Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets
by AvatarCat13
Summary: Aang and his friends return to their second year at Hogwarts, where an ancient evil awakens. When Harry gets blamed for all of this, will Aang, Team Avatar, and the Golden Trio solve this mystery quickly? And how will this affect the mission from Dumbledore? Rated T for some blood and violence. Sequel to Avatar Aang And The Sorcerer's Stone
1. The News

**AvatarCat13: Hey everyone, and welcome to the official sequel to Avatar Aang And The Sorcerer's Stone: Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! This story will be longer and even more filled with action! And this isn't an actual continuation of Avatar: The Last AirBender; this is what it'd be like if they crossed into the Harry Potter world.**

**I'm sorry I haven't uploaded anything or published anything in a while As usual, I got as distracted as ever, playing with World Of Warcraft and the such. Plus, I've been watching some SpongeBob to see how it's gone down the drain in years. I've watched new episodes, but I think the pre-movie seasons were better.**

**And now that we're done...on with the first disclaimer of the story!**

**Disclaimer: Like I've said before in the previous story, Avatar: The Last AirBender and Harry Potter don't belong to me. They belong to Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling. And I won't go much into the preview for the story, so here's the summary for the first chapter.**

**Summary: It's been nearly two months since Aang and his friends returned from Harry's world, and they're as busy as ever! While there, they try to deal with a breakout of a returning villain who is now out for revenge and a letter containing a rather confusing letter of books. But the biggest surprise is...a strange creature from Harry's world arrives to give them disturbing news.**

**Publishing Date: March 6, 2013**

**Enjoy Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets!**

**...**

_**The News**_

**THE DAILY BENDER**

_**EX-FIRE LORD OZAI BREAKS OUT OF PRISON!**_

_So-called Phoenix King Ozai, former Fire Lord and father of Fire Lord Zuko, has recently broken out of prison. Not only that, but there were reports of dead guards, some of which weren't burned to death. One guard had survived to tell the researchers of this horrific scene._

"_Another guard besides me survived and told me this," the guard said, wishing to remain unnamed. "A man in a black cloak and a snake tattoo on his arm told me and my guards to stand out of the way for some business. But when we tried restraining him with FireBending, he held a stick up and fired a green light from it, hitting my soldiers. And when I went to check on them, they were dead!"_

_There was also a report of both soldiers being tortured almost to insanity. But once they had given the stranger directions to Ozai's cell, they were left alone...but their comrades weren't. All of them had either been slashed at the throat with blood pouring from their wounds or killed by the same green light. It was almost as if a demon or something had attacked them out of nowhere._

_Everyone in the world must be warned to not go out at night or day without someone around. A curfew for all people must be at ten at night. And be on the lookout for ex-Fire Lord Ozai: he is armed, possibly with the new stranger, and is extremely dangerous._

Avatar Aang sighed as he rolled up the paper and handed it to Momo, his pet flying lemur. It had been nearly a week since he heard the news: ex-Fire Lord Ozai had broken out of the prison Fire Lord Zuko placed him in. He couldn't believe it; three years after the end of the war, three years of peace, Ozai had ruined it too. And by the sound of the "stick", he believed this person who assisted in the breakout had come from Harry Potter's world.

It had been two months since Team Avatar had returned from Hogwarts for the summer. But this summer meant that Aang had to be busier than ever, so they went to the Fire Lord's palace for the work to be done. Republic City was still being constructed, and Aang had to attend some meetings on how to make the city even better. In fact, the Fire Nation had already planned on lending a hand in making the founders' statues. But the recent news had temporarily halted the working, for they were now on the lookout for Ozai.

Now Aang was resting on the Ember Island beach for a brief rest, Momo and Appa the flying bison beside him. He wondered how Harry was doing back in his world; he hoped his aunt and uncle treated him better after his first year. The Avatar looked up at the sky and vaguely patted the resting Appa's head while Momo chirped beside them.

"Aang! What've you been doing all this time, buddy?"

Aang looked around in time to see one of his best friends, Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe, walk over to him. By the way his face was sweating, he must have either worked hard in training or played in some powerful sport; he recalled watching them play volleyball in their swimsuits before walking off to think. He had wanted to play in the sport too, but thanks to all the Avatar stuff he had to do, it was pretty difficult to do so...though he was allowed a break.

"While you've been sitting there, our team's been beaten up in volleyball!" Sokka griped with a slight grumpy face. "Now what's eating you?"

"Hey, go easy on him. He's just thinking." The next person who had approached was Katara, Sokka's younger sister and Aang's girlfriend. To Aang, she saw the look on his face and asked, "You're thinking about Ozai breaking out, aren't you, Aang?"

The AirBender nodded slightly. "But I'm okay. It's just...I'm worried he'll disrupt the peace."

Katara stepped forth until she wrapped her arms around him and he was looking down into her beautiful face. He wrapped his arms around her exposed and lean stomach as she went on, "If Ozai had done something very terrible, we would've heard of it somehow. So you've got nothing to worry about for the time being."

Then Sokka added helpfully, "Yeah. And besides, you're the Avatar! You've beaten him before, and you can bet the arrow on your head that you can do it again!"

"That's true..." But by the way Ozai's new ally was described, he could tell the former Fire Lord would soon rise to power once again. So he released his girlfriend and said, "But I'm still a bit worried. What if Ozai and his new ally come here and cause problems?"

"He won't." Another one of Aang's friends, Toph the blind EarthBender, had strolled up and fixed the Avatar with a blind yet stern face. She went on sagely, "Zuko's got plenty of guards around the place to rebuff the Loser Lord. So you've got nothing to worry about...except for the second year."

_That's true, _Aang realized. They had previously spent months at a new world where a school for magic called Hogwarts took place. Plus, they had been entrusted on a mission by the headmaster there, Albus Dumbledore. Though they didn't know now what to do, they felt they were getting a bit farther in this mission.

"So anyways, you wanna play some kickball?" Katara asked, a playful look in her blue eyes. "So far, Toph, Suki, and I are kicking the guys' butts. But if you don't want to..."

Aang thought it over before looking down at her again. "Actually...you guys are right. If Ozai had done something bad, then we'd hear it and sort him out. So for now...I'll play," he decided, kissing her gently on the cheek.

"Good!" A new voice made them turn to see Suki, Sokka's Kyoshi warrior girlfriend coming over to them. She was holding four letters as she went on, "But first, you four got some letters from an owl. And after that, you can get something to drink and we can get back to the game."

"Got it, gorgeous," Sokka replied, stepping forth to kiss her cheek while she handed him the letters. To the others, he said, "Well, let's see what we gotta get this year."

So they stepped forth and picked out their letters. Aang waited until the others got theirs before he got his and opened it up, the letter containing a list this time. But now, most of the books here were written by only one person.

_**SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:**_

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_43 Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_

"So? What's it say?" Suki asked as a visiting Fire Lord Zuko came back with drinks.

Aang looked up at her, handing over his list. "These books are listed by some guy named Gilderoy Lockhart."

Sokka looked down suspiciously at the list before looking up. "Suki...you sure the list didn't mess this up somehow?"

His girlfriend eyed him with a roll of the eyes. "Of course I'm sure. I've never been to Hogwarts, remember?"

"Oh...right..."

"Whoever this person is must've been a rather resourceful man," Zuko spoke up as he set down the drinks. "Plus, I think I've got something to tell you...something I think you won't like...it's got something to do with-"

"Can it settle after the ball game?" Toph interrupted. "We're wasting daylight here! And I wanna start kicking butts in volleyball!"

Katara laughed at this, throwing her long brown hair back. "Okay, Toph. No need to get your hair in a twist. Let's go!"

So they walked out towards the beach joined by Gin, Katara's silver-furred dog, who raced over from the shallows and leapt onto Katara. She giggled as he rested his paws on her shoulders and licked her happily, his curly tail wagging like crazy. They stopped before the net that they would play volleyball at, the males on one side and the females on the other. Once on the count of three, they began their game, the animals watching them.

Zuko was the one to start off by giving the ball a powerful roundhouse kick; Aang knew he and his sister Azula had played this game before. He watched as Suki leapt into the air to counter the ball, showing the flexibility a Kyoshi warrior had. As the volleyball soared over the net, Aang intercepted it and used AirBending to blast it over the net...but at a price. It hit an unsuspecting Toph on the top of her head, making him regret doing that.

"Ouch!" Toph gasped, rubbing her head. "Hey, who's the dunderhead who hit my head?!"

"Hehe...sorry!" Aang told her. "I think I better sit this one out."

Toph gave him a glare which softened a bit. "It's fine, Twinkletoes. I'll sit this out too. That makes both teams even now."

So the Avatar and his EarthBending Sifu sat to the sides and sipped their drinks while they watched the others play volleyball. Aang saw that the bump on Toph's head was just a minor injury, but he still felt bad for hurting his friend. He felt like he was back at Jeong Jeong's hut nearly three years ago, accidentally hurting Katara with FireBending. But he reminded himself of what he learned when he tried to master the Avatar State: it was all in the past.

All of a sudden, Gin was barking noisily at the beach house, his curled tail wagging wildly. Aang sat up, wondering what was going on, while the others looked at the silver dog in a very confused way.

"I better go see what's up in the house," Katara said, moving away from the group. To Gin, she told him, "Come on, Gin. Let's go see what's up."

"Can I come with you?" Aang asked as he left his seat and joined her.

Katara gave him a smile. "Of course you can."

So the two of them followed Gin while the other continued their game. Once Aang and Katara got to the front door, they heard the clutter of pots and pans from the inside and wondered what was going on. Gin was now pawing at the door, barking loudly and bringing over Momo, who gave a chirp and did the same thing. Sharing a look of confusion, Aang and Katara pushed open the door and were surprised to see this scene before them.

The kitchen was a mess, pots and pans everywhere along with the pitter-patter of little feet. They looked down to see Gin rush forth and chase a strange creature around the table, letting Aang and Katara see it clearly. It was small and brown with a filthy pillowcase on its body, large wolf bat-like ears, a long nose, and huge green eyes. Right now, it turned around and saw Gin chasing after it, squeaking in alarm as it came running.

"Gin!" Katara called even if he didn't listen. "No, Gin! Stop chasing him!"

At this, Gin stopped chasing the creature and slinked back to his master, whining and rolling over onto his back. Katara rolled her eyes as she reached down and rubbed his belly while Aang looked at the creature, saying, "Sorry about that."

"Thank you, sir and miss!" the creature squeaked in a high voice. "So long as Dobby longed to see Avatar Aang and friends, friends of Harry Potter! I am Dobby...Dobby the house elf! Dobby is trying to find something to do while he waits for the Avatar and his friends!"

Katara replied, "You're welcome. And this explains the mess on the floor, right?"

The elf looked startled at this before his large eyes darted to the pots and pans strewn all over the floor. To their shock, he walked over to the nearest cupboard door and started hitting his head on it, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

Shocked at what Dobby was doing to himself, Aang rushed forth, shouting, "Wait a minute! What're you doing?!"

"Why're you beating yourself up?" Katara asked more calmly, though she looked just as worried as her boyfriend. She gently pulled him away from the cupboard, saying, "Please stop!"

"D-Dobby apologizes," Dobby sighed, pulling over a stool and climbing to the top of it. "Dobby had to punish himself, miss. Dobby has been told to serve whomever he crosses. His family tells him so."

"Your family?" Aang asked politely.

Dobby nodded. "Yes, Avatar Aang, sir. The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby will serve the wizard family until he dies. 'Tis the duty of a house elf."

Katara's eyes widened at this. "Then that means...you must be from Harry's world! You know? Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter!" Dobby yelped, his eyes wide too. "You knows Harry Potter too? This is why Dobby has come to the Avatar World, to warn Avatar Aang and his friends..."

_Warn us? About what? _Aang shared a confused look with his girlfriend. They had no idea why Dobby was here, and how he seemed to have gotten here was even more puzzling. But Dobby was right; the others had a right to know what else this little elf had to say.

So he said, "You're right, Dobby. Come outside with us, and we can tell everyone."

But as soon as the words came from his mouth, the elf's eyes suddenly started swimming with tears. Aang felt uncomfortable about this; whatever he said, it appeared that it had offended Dobby in some way.

"G-g-go outside?" the elf asked. Then he suddenly burst into tears, wailing, "Never, sir, never! Never ever!"

"It's fine, Dobby," Katara said soothingly. But then she turned to give Aang a stern glare, asking sharply, "Aang, what'd you do to him?"

Aang was startled at how irritated his girlfriend was at him. "I-I didn't do anything! Dobby, I'm sorry!" he told the elf. "I didn't mean to offend you!"

Dobby wiped his eyes. "O-Offend Dobby? Dobby has never been asked to go outside like an equal person...Dobby has been treated most unfairly in his life, sir and miss..."

Katara nodded before turning to Aang. "I understand. And sorry I snapped at you, Aang."

"It's okay," Aang replied. "Well, come on. Let's go outside."

Gin gave a bark and quickly went out the door, Momo flying after him and landing on his back. Aang followed the two animals outside, and Katara waited until Dobby went ahead of her and began walking beside Aang. He looked down at the elf before looking back at his friends, who had taken a break from their game and were now talking with each other. Now was the time for him to sneak up behind them and give them a surprise.

Aang saw Sokka talking with Suki and Zuko about something and saw that this was the perfect opportunity to sneak up on them and give them their surprise. So he sneaked over to behind them, inhaled sharply, and blew a gust of wind that ruffled all their hair. Sokka let out a bit of a girlish scream before ducking and calling "Appa's come back to get me for messing with his fur!", making the others laugh. Dobby had quickly hidden himself behind Katara's slender legs, peeking out to see if the supposed danger was gone.

Once he recovered, Sokka glared up at Aang and growled, "Darn it, Aang! Gimme a little warning next time!"

"Sorry," Aang replied with a chuckle. "We just have someone for you to meet. Guys and girls...meet Dobby."

Katara gently nudged Dobby out from behind her legs, but the elf flinched as if she had slapped him across the face. But with a little more encouraging, he was finally able to come out and face everyone. They all gazed down at Dobby with widened eyes...except for Toph, who we all know was blind.

"Hey there, little guy," Suki greeted him gently. "What're you doing here?"

With a nod from Aang, Dobby stammered, "D-Dobby is here to tell everyone something, to warn them...b-b-but Dobby is not sure how to put it..."

"Just spit it out," Toph barked impatiently.

Hearing the toughness in her voice, Aang saw Dobby cringe. So he said, "Go easy on him, okay, Toph?"

The blind EarthBender rolled her pale green eyes, but she said nothing.

"Anyways, sirs and misses..." Dobby paused to swallow a bit before going on. "Dobby has come from Harry Potter's world and has already warned Harry Potter of a danger...a dangerous plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this year. But Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter, Avatar Aang, and Team Avatar to protect them...and even face the fact that his ears will be shut behind the oven door when he returns..."

"Meaning?" Zuko asked, putting heavy emphasis on the word.

Then...with a trembling voice...he rasped, "Avatar Aang and his friends must not return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!"

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: There we go! The first chapter is finally done! Let's just hope that this story is as good as (or better than) Avatar Aang And The Sorcerer's Stone.**

**I had no idea the first story would quickly get popular...though I can't say the same for my Life At The Dursleys story; thus, I've decided to add two more chapters there. But anyways, there'll be more tension on this story, especially with the Slytherins involved, and a former enemy is returning. I won't tell you who it is yet, but I'll let you know in the next couple of chapters.**

**So remember to read and review, folks! Those who do will get a virtual plush doll of Dobby immediately sent to them. I do not allow flames on this story or any other stories unless they want to be made for making S'Mores in my fireplace. Yet I DO allow advice and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh. And here's the preview for Dobby's Warning.**

**Preview: Team Avatar has already gotten the news: Dobby has warned them to not go back to Hogwarts this year! Will they heed his warning or go behind his back? And if they do, what surprises will they find when they return to Harry's world?**

**See ya next time! And Happy early Easter!**


	2. New Friends

**AvatarCat13: I've recently checked the stats for this story, and it's getting good so far. And I'm sorry I've been neglecting this story, so I'm posting this chapter to make up for it.**

**So far, it's getting some pretty good views and being in the favorites section of plenty of FanFic authors. I had no idea that it would get this cool fast, but I better not stay here too much. Anyways, my mom has a friend from North Carolina visiting for a few weeks, and I'd like to try and help him out often. One more thing: Reesey's already had a second litter of puppies a few days ago; there's five in all.**

**There we go then. Now on with the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: This is the second disclaimer of this FanFic. I do NOT own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Harry Potter. **

**Summary: Team Avatar has already gotten the news: Dobby has warned them to not go back to Hogwarts this year! Will they heed his warning or go behind his back? And if they do, what surprises will they find when they return to Harry's world?**

**Uploading Date: March 22, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**A New Friend**_

A stunned silence followed Dobby's words as the Benders (plus Sokka and Suki) shared shocked looks. Aang couldn't believe what he had just heard; this little elf was telling them not to go back to Hogwarts. How could he try to stop them like this, and what was this terrible thing that would happen there? He had just given this more time to think when Sokka strode towards Dobby, his blue eyes puzzled.

"What'd you mean, we can't go back?" the Water Tribe warrior asked. "You can't just say we can't go back! We got a mission there to do!"

"No, no, no!" Dobby squealed loudly, shaking his head so quickly that his ears flapped. "Avatar Aang and his friends must stay here where it is safe! Sirs and misses must not go where the dangers are appearing right now!"

Everyone gave him confused looks, unable to speak. Then Katara asked, "How could you know about the dangers there? Who's plotting them? Is it Voldemort?"

Dobby looked up at her with wide and very frightened green eyes and plugged his ears, squealing, "Ah! Speak not the name, miss! Speak not the name! It's not him!"

"Sorry."

Aang sat down and thought this over. From what he heard, Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who had tried to kill Harry as a baby, had gotten this nickname, for people in the Wizarding world were scared of saying the true name. But then...how could Voldemort _not _be involved with what was happening at Hogwarts? It made just as enough sense as a flying bison and a Shirshu making a baby together.

"Then who IS it?" Toph asked with impatience in her voice.

"Dobby...Dobby cannot tell," Dobby replied, shaking a bit. "His masters have promised him not to tell anyone about anything, miss..."

Then Zuko spoke up more politely, "And what's more, how come you're referring to yourself in third person? Many people...don't usually do that," he added, which sounded sorta like a lame attempt to finish his words.

The elf looked up at the Fire Lord and winced at the scar, but he paid no heed to it. Instead, he replied, "'Tis just the way we house elves speak, sir." Then he shook his head again and went on, "Listen! Terrible things are happening at Hogwarts! These terrible things will come against Avatar Aang, Harry Potter, and their friends if they return! Dobby has known it for months, sirs and misses. Avatar, Aang, Harry Potter, and their friends must not put themselves in peril. They is too important, sirs and misses!"

Now this elf was confusing Aang beyond imagination. If Dobby wanted to protect them, then why was he trying to keep them from returning to Hogwarts? Dumbledore had trusted him and his friends with their mission, so not going back could ruin it. There was no way Dobby was going to ruin this mission for them.

"Dobby..." Aang thought over the words carefully. "...thanks for the advice; we really appreciate it. But we've already fought many dangers, stuck together for years, and went through many adventures with each other. So I think we'll be okay."

"As long as Dumbledore is around, that is," Katara added quickly.

"Albus Dumbledore?" Dobby gazed up at the master WaterBender with awe. "He is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had! Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But sirs and miss..." His voice dropped to an urgent whisper as he went on, "...there are powers Dumbledore doesn't...powers no decent wizard..."

And before anyone could stop him, he picked up a rock from the sand and started hitting himself on the head with it. Aang saw the others gawk at him in surprise and Katara place a hand over her mouth in concern as Dobby squealed, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Someone do something!" Suki gasped. "Hurry before he kills himself!"

So Aang, coming up with an idea, pulled out his bison whistle from his pocket and blew on it hard. Appa, who was resting not too far away, sat up quickly and gave a roar, plodding over and landing near Dobby and towering over him. Dobby turned away from the rock and slowly turned around, letting out a terrified squeak as he saw the bison standing before him. The sound of the whistle had also startled Momo and Gin, who were bristling and howling respectively.

But Aang now saw that Appa was such a large animal that he could easily crush Dobby under all that weight. If he didn't call his animal guide off him, he could flatten him even flatter than a birch leaf.

"Appa, don't crush him!" Aang scolded, quickly getting between his bison and Dobby. "Calm down, boy! Calm down!"

As if listening, Appa gave a loud roar and turned away from him, settling back down on the sand. Right when that happened, he saw Katara and Suki come forth and try to hug Dobby, who was panting and settling down from his panic attack. Aang thought with amusement of how the elf would think of two beautiful women calming him down with hugging. Finally, Dobby was silent as he stopped thrashing about.

"Th-thank you, misses," he rasped, looking up into their blue and bluish-green eyes. "You handle it better than when Dobby visited Harry Potter...he stuffed me in a closet!"

Zuko raised a brow at this. "He stuffed you in a closet? Why would he wanna do that?"

But this made Aang raise a brow too...for a different reason. Dobby had visited Harry some time ago...but why? Had he warned him about the "dangers" of Hogwarts too? He hoped Dobby had not caused any problems for him or there would be even more problems.

So he asked, "What if we were to visit Harry and see if he's okay? And about us going to Hogwarts..." This was where the lie was going to come in. So he gave a deep breath and went on, "...you're right. We won't go to Hogwarts this year."

Right away, the others gave Aang a look of surprise and Sokka glare at him as if to say "Why the heck not?!" But Aang gave them a small wink to let them know that he was kidding. Toph couldn't do it because of...well, you know the story...while almost all the others did not get it yet. Only Katara seemed to understand him, for she gave him a wink in return, making him briefly get distracted; she looked gorgeous as usual when she winked.

"Well...Dobby supposes it won't hurt...and as long as the letters stay where they are..." The elf shuffled his feet and then said, "All right then. Dobby trusts Avatar Aang and his friends to do so. Just remember, sirs and misses mustn't go back to Hogwarts this year! Bye!"

With a snap of his long fingers, Dobby vanished into thin air.

Toph was the first to speak up, asking, "Okay, what the heck? What was that snapping?"

"He just vanished into thin air," Sokka explained. "And what did he mean by 'as long as the letters stay where they are'? I bet he's stopping Harry's letters or something!"

"You just answered that question on your own," Zuko remarked with a small smirk.

"Then it's settled," Aang spoke up, standing up all the way. "Tonight...we're gonna go over to Harry's world to check up on him. Yep, I lied," he added with a goofy smile as he saw the others gaping at him. "Just like back at the Great Divide."

Silence. Then Katara came forth with a sly smile and gave her AirBending boyfriend a smile, purring, "Once again, that is SO wrong, Aang."

The Avatar replied with a kiss on the lips before they all got back to the beach, where they talked about the upcoming year of Hogwarts. Aang knew that there had to be a way to return to Harry's world, but he knew they couldn't right away; there was another political meeting coming up in an hour. So while the others went inside the beach house to get another drink to cool down, he went to the room he and Katara stayed at to get prepared. As soon as night would arrive, then they could go to the Wizarding World.

Aang found some of his formal robes in the closet and was starting to put them on until he saw that he couldn't get the back fixed. It appeared that help had arrived, for Katara came up behind him and zipped it up for him, making him look over into her smiling face. He smiled back at her and gave her a kiss on the lips of thanks, but then they heard a chirp and bark from behind them. Momo and Gin were looking up at them, the former staring up at them and the latter wagging his curly tail happily.

_I guess even pets like to ruin a moment like this, _Aang thought with amusement. He and Katara shared a look of laughter before walking out of the room and joining the others.

**...**

Night had finally arrived over Ember Island. All six of them had come back from the meeting, feeling tired yet ready to go back to Harry's Wizarding world. Aang looked into his bag to look at part of the teleporting gem they all shared; it was fortunate that Dobby didn't try and steal all the pieces to prevent them from returning. But Appa would have to be teleported on his own, for he was too big to be carried all the way over with the others by him.

Before they left, Aang gave Appa instructions to go over to General Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se and wait to go back to Hogwarts there. And once they had gathered (Zuko and Suki were going with them to see them off), they brought out their teleport gem shards and put all four of them together. Zuko and Suki reached forth to grab onto the gem too, Zuko in between Aang and Katara and Suki in between Sokka and Toph. And with their belongings pack together, they felt the glow around them as they were whisked away from their world for the second time.

When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in an open clearing in the middle of a forest. It was still night outside like in their own world, and there wasn't much to see except for fireflies buzzing around and flowers littering the grassy ground. Even tawny owls were out on their nocturnal hunt, their _kew-wik _calls echoing through the night air. At first, Aang was confused; weren't they in the Wizarding World or not?

"This is weird," Suki remarked, looking back to the others. "Shouldn't we have been in that magic alley you talked about?"

"Yeah," Aang replied. "But...where are we?"

"I'd sure like to continue with that boring stuff, but I think we got company," Toph suddenly said, pointing away from the bushes. "Over there."

And Aang spotted them: three wolves stalking towards them, their eyes a glittering variety of blue, golden, and green. While Aang got in front of Katara to defend her, Gin stalked out of the small circle and faced the wolves, his lips peeling back into a snarl. The others got into their fighting poses, ready to fend these wild beasts off.

But then...the wolves didn't attack right away. Instead, the gray-&-white wolf in the lead let out a bark and started to run around the humans in a circle. The others followed its lead and began galloping around them, barking with their tongues lolling out. Momo gave a screech and flew up onto Sokka's head, hissing as he glared down at the wolves with fear. Aang saw that the wolves were trying to make sure they were weak before attacking, and they would have pounced if it weren't for an unfamiliar voice.

"Kids! That's enough!"

Suddenly, the wolves reeled back, looking around with their ears flattened against their heads. Aang then found out where they were looking at: a tawny owl glaring sternly at the wolves from a low branch of a tree. To their amazement, the owl flew down to land before them, growing taller than normal while the feathers began melting away and the talons became feet. Its wings became arms, and the head grew bigger...and at last, a man was standing before the wolves.

He appeared to be wearing black robes, complete with black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. His yellow eyes, however, showed a mix of worry and anger, and his glare made the humans gaze in confusion and the wolves freeze. Aang wondered if he was worried for his pets running off on their own.

"Misty, I've been searching all over for you and your siblings," the man told the lead wolf. "And now I'm seeing you attack humans on our property. Before they explain themselves, you're going to get back to your human selves. All three of you."

To Aang's (and the others') shock, the wolf bowed her head and muttered, "Sorry, Dad." To the other wolves, she said, "You heard him. Let's change back."

The wolves began to stand on their hind legs and morph. Their fur began shrinking back into their skins, their tails shrank into nothing, and their muzzles became flatter. Plus, their ears had disappeared as normal ears sprouted by their heads, and hair sprouted from their heads as their paws became hands and feet. Finally, there were three humans in place of the three wolves: a teenage girl and two kids around the age of ten.

The teenage girl looked like she was around Toph's age, but she looked older. She also looked quite pretty with a lean face and body, long black hair that reached to her back, and shining blue eyes just like Katara's eyes. Finally, she was also wearing the same black robes her father was wearing except with some jewels on them. Beside her were a brown-haired boy with green eyes and a red-haired girl with dark golden eyes. All three of them turned away from the Benders to look up at the man who had caught them at night.

"Wow..." Aang gave a gasp at this amazing power these three kids had. "I didn't know you had that kind of magic! What other animals can you turn into?"

The man glared at him. "That's private business, kid! And Misty..." He glared back at his daughter. "Why are you, Ben, and Rika out here at night? You know the curfew and rules of our transformation!"

"I'm sorry, Dad," Misty replied, looking ashamed. "We just wanted to have some fun."

"I'm not denying you the right to have fun; I just want you and the others to be safe." Looking back to Aang and his friends, he barked, "And you six! What're you doing in our land?"

Zuko stepped forth, saying, "We're sorry, sir. We had no idea we were in your property. My friends and I are here because Avatar Aang and his friends are on a mission."

The man's eyes now widened before he rasped, "The...Avatar? Albus told us about him being in Hogwarts...but I never imagined seeing him instead of in tales..." He gave him and his friends a quick bow and said, "I apologize, Avatar Aang. I missed the arrows."

"How could you not see the arrow on his head?" Sokka asked with incredulity. "They're right there on his head!" But this caused Katara to nudge him a bit in the ribs and whisper something quick to him.

"It's hard to see in the dark with human eyes, but not with animal eyes," the man said. "Anyhow, my name is Brian Davidson, and you've already met my children: Misty, Ben, and Rika. And what about the rest of you?"

Aang stepped forth. "From before, I'm Avatar Aang...for our own world, of course." He gestured to the others and said, "The Water Tribe girl is Katara, and she's my girlfriend. The guy in the same robes is Sokka, Katara's brother. The smaller girl is Toph Bei Fong, the shorthaired girl is Suki from Kyoshi Island, and the scarred man is Fire Lord Zuko. It's nice to meet you, Brian."

Brian smiled back. "And you too. Now how about you come with us to our house for the night? Then we can talk from there. But be careful; I saw a giant shadow fly around nearby, so that's why I turned into an owl to scout it out...that, and my kids were out past their curfew," he added with a slightly sterner look at his children.

"We said we were sorry already!" Ben spoke up, looking even more cheerful.

"Well, we can't stand here in the dark. Just follow us, and we'll show you where we live," Brian said. "Just remember to catch up with us."

At this, he suddenly morphed back into an owl and flew off down the clearing path. Back on the ground, the three had already turned into running animals; all of them had turned into horses with their own hair colors as their horse hides. They bent down to the ground on their knees, letting Aang see that they were inviting him and his friends to get on. So Aang and Katara got onto Misty's back, Sokka and Suki were on Rika, and Zuko and Toph got to ride with Ben. With a neigh and a pawing of the ground, the three horses galloped away while Gin raced beside them to catch up with their speed.

Aang relished in having Katara wrap her arms around him, making him think of riding on an ostrich horse, but this gave way to confusion. How were these people able to turn into different animals whenever they wanted? Brian said something about a time limit, though, so this was one disadvantage about their transforming powers. But as he was pulled out of his thoughts, he realized that it was because Katara was nudging him a bit from behind.

"I think we're here, Aang," she told him.

Aang looked at the house before him. It looked quite cozy, built into the side of a large hill with some windows here and there. There was a mailbox on the outside, but by the isolation of this place, he guessed they didn't have any mail. And standing at the front of the house was a young woman with long brown hair and warm brown eyes filled with relief.

"There you guys are!" she exclaimed, walking over to the owl that transformed back into Brian. "So you found the kids?"

"Sure did, love...along with some company," Brian told her. He gestured to Aang and his friends as he explained, "These are Avatar Aang and his friends; they come from the Bending world Albus told us about. And Aang and friends..." He turned back to the Benders. "This here is my lovely wife Delia. You don't mind if they spend the night, do you?" he asked his wife with a slight smile.

Delia looked over at them and smiled. "Of course not. I was hoping we could have company to go over to Diagon Alley. And it's a real pleasure to meet you all," she added to Aang and the rest of Team Avatar. "Come with me. I got the guest room set up for you."

Aang and his friends shared looks at this. Right now, people they barely knew were letting them spend the night at their house. But he recalled many people letting them stay at their place on their journey to defeat Ozai. So they just gave a shrug and walked after Delia and into the strange new house, already feeling tired.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Here we go! The second chapter of Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! If I didn't get their personalities right, then let me know, and I'll go back and make 'em right. And now...a few words before the review thing and the preview for The Tunnels And The Burrow.**

**I've decided to add people with transforming powers for quite a while, and these guys are based off of the Animorphs. Including the two-hour limit thing. And Delia Davidson is based off of Delia Ketchum, mother of Ash Ketchum from Pokémon. Finally, I'll give you a hint of a future chapter: it involves a growth potion and a certain WaterBender.**

**Remember to read and review, folks! Those who do will receive a virtual pizza with toppings of their choice along with drinks. And remember, I DON'T allow flames on this story or any other story; they'll be used to heat up the house on a cold night. But I DO allow advice and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: Aang and his friends are back in Harry's world, and they are now ready to see him again. Meanwhile, their stay at the Davidsons' house is starting to feel pleasant...but they have yet to reveal their true powers. And...they have a feeling that Dobby is watching their every move. Was he really right about his warning?**

**See ya next time! And Happy early Easter!**


	3. The Tunnels And The Burrow

**AvatarCat13: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to the new chapter! Sorry if I hadn't been around to upload this new chapter, but I've just wanted to think over what happens next here. But first, as usual, I've got something to tell you before this chapter.**

**I've heard rumors that The Legend Of Korra Book 2 is coming out sometime this April. And I hope it does, for I can't wait for Book 2! We get to see Bumi 2 and Kya 2, and we get to see the origins of how the Avatar first came to be. Ain't that awesome?**

**And finally, here's the disclaimer of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Friends, FanFiction authors, countrymen, I come to bury the disclaimer, not to praise it. For I do NOT and will never own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Harry Potter; they belong to Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling. And to let you know, I got the first part from **_**Julius Caesar **_**by William Shakespeare.**

**Summary: ****Aang and his friends are back in Harry's world, and they are now ready to see him again. Meanwhile, their stay at the Davidsons' house is starting to feel pleasant...but they have yet to reveal their true powers. And...they have a feeling that Dobby is watching their every move. Was he really right about his warning?**

**Uploading Date: April 15, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The Tunnels And The Burrow**_

Once Team Avatar got into the house, they had to marvel at how it looked on the inside. The living room looked spacious with the walls being paved in light brown stone and very comfy-looking sofas and loveseats here and there. There was even a fish tank built into the wall that contained exotic fish of all colors and shapes, and a roaring fire was blazing in the brick-layered fireplace. It looked like a hunter's place to stay for some time.

Katara looked around to see if there were animal heads; that way, she could tell Aang and hide his gaze from them. Fortunately, there were none, and the only other animals seen here were a little long-bodied black-&-tan dog and an orange cat lying in little beds near the fireplace. The Davidsons were lucky to have a house like this.

"Well...welcome to our humble abode," Delia told them with a smile.

Aang looked around. "Wow...your house looks really nice!"

Delia replied, "Thanks. I'd give you the tour, but you guys look tired, so you wanna sleep first? You'll get to see more in the morning."

"Yes please," Katara replied, letting out a small yawn while the others added their agreement. It had been a tiring day for all of them.

"I'll say," Sokka added with a MUCH louder yawn than his sister. "After all the meeting stuff we've been through today...I could sleep the week away if I wanted to!"

Brian gave the small group a smile. "Good. The kids are already getting ready for bed, so don't do anything to wake them up. Follow us."

So they followed him and Delia up the spiraling staircase and entered a hallway with a cage of mice built into one wall and a snake cage in the other. Katara believed that since this house was built into the side of a hill, the rooms could be large and underneath the earth. They had arrived at the end of the hallway, where Delia opened the door, and Team Avatar stepped inside to marvel at the scenery.

The room was quite large with three bunk beds at each of the other three walls. Above them, there seemed to be a large birdcage with a giant roof over it, and a windlass in the ceiling told Katara that it was probably there to close during bad weather. The flooring underneath their feet was soft with smooth carpet like the living room. And the birds above them were sleeping, birds like finches, woodpeckers, and a few birds of prey resting in perches.

"Well, this is the guest room," Brian told them. "It's too late to take a shower now, so you'll have to sleep in your day clothes." Looking up, he added, "And make sure you don't mind if Big Mama wakes you up early in the morning."

"Big Mama?" Toph repeated, her brows raised. Then she made a shrug and remarked, "You know what? I don't wanna know now. Someone can tell me in the morning." At this, she made for the nearest bunk bed and climbed up to the top easily due to the ladder being metal.

Aang turned to the couple who had taken them in. "Sorry about that. She can be pretty blunt in what she's saying."

But a piece of space earth hit him on the head, followed by "I heard that, Twinkletoes!"

"It's fine," Delia told him with a smile. "We've met a few people like her...and they can be fun to talk to once you get to know them."

Smiling at this, everyone got to their bunks and unloaded their stuff, and Katara watched as Momo and Gin went downstairs. A minute later, she looked out the window and saw Gin rest under a tall apple tree while Momo flew up to a low branch and settled there. She looked around back into the room and saw the others getting ready for their sleep. Sokka and Suki were sharing one bunk bed (Suki on top and Sokka on bottom), while Zuko and Toph shared the other one; Toph wanted to sleep at the bottom to feel the floor better. So the only bed left was where Aang and Katara would sleep in.

Katara saw Aang walk towards her and give her a kiss on the cheek, which she returned. Once they were done, she went to the bottom of her bunk bed and burrowed under the covers. Before she closed her eyes, she relished in the fact that they were back at Harry's world and the mission from Dumbledore could continue. She was worried at first about Dobby's warning and what it really meant, but she assured herself that Aang was right; perhaps Dobby was just worrying over practically nothing.

Soon...she seemed to think as she closed her eyes...their mission would continue.

**...**

The hoot of an owl made Katara wake up and look up towards the ceiling from the side of the bunk bed above her. A great horned owl had just flown in and fallen asleep with one head under its wing; she supposed this was the "Big Mama" Brian told them about. As she got out of her bed, she stretched her arms to the air with a loud yawn before turning around. Aang was fast asleep in his bed, and unlike Sokka (who had been snoring a bit loudly), her boyfriend was sleeping as peacefully as an old man in a comfortable bed.

_He's even cute when he's sleeping, _she found herself thinking what she thought over the years. _But still, he needs to wake up._

Noticing that Sokka and Toph had gotten up already, Katara looked down at the sleeping Avatar with a smile and bent her head down until her breath tickled his cheek. Once the coast was clear, she quickly gave him a little lick on the left cheek and stepped back, watching him awaken a bit. Katara had just reached down and licked his cheek again when her mouth was captured by his until it became a kiss. They broke apart, and both Benders were looking into each other's eyes now with smiles on their faces.

"Good morning, Aang," Katara purred as she stroked her boyfriend's left cheek.

"You too, Katara," Aang replied while getting up. He was dressed in a yellow nightshirt and thin-looking orange night pants. "Should we go down for breakfast?"

Katara smiled down at him. "Sure."

She watched as the AirBender got out of bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek walked on out of the room, Katara following him. Things looked a bit duller in the house in the daytime than it did in the nighttime, but it still looked like a nice house. Some of the fish in the aquarium were now hiding probably due to wanting to sleep, but there were some fish here and there along with a nurse shark dozing at the sand. Once they arrived at the top of the spiraling staircase, they went downstairs to be greeted by a funny sight.

The little black-&-tan dog from earlier was playing around with Momo, who was strangely playing with it. Katara wondered what got into Aang's pet lemur; usually, Momo wasn't one to play with other small animals. As soon as she and Aang arrived, the little dog yipped and ran around their feet while Momo glided over and settled himself onto his shoulder, chirping.

"Good morning to you too, Momo," Aang chuckled as the lemur nuzzled his cheek with his nose. "I've never seen you act friendly towards any other animal besides Appa and Gin!"

Suddenly, Momo spoke in a female voice, "I'm not Momo! I'm Misty!"

At this, "Momo" leapt off his shoulder and landed on the ground before him, growing taller as the tall ears and tail began to shrink. Now Misty was standing at the exact spot as the lemur was, dressed in a blue nightgown and her long black hair (which was usually kept natural) tied into a ponytail. But the same playful yet impish smile was still on her face.

"Good morning to you," she greeted them happily. "If you're looking for Sokka and Toph, they're in the kitchen."

"Only Sokka and Toph?" Katara asked in confusion. "What about Zuko and Suki? Where are they at?"

Misty replied, "They left earlier this morning, but they said they wanted to wish you guys luck in your second year. So let's go!"

So all three of them went into the kitchen, where they were greeted by the real Momo, who was keeping himself distanced from the ginger cat on the table. Sokka and Toph were nearby, both eating their breakfast of bacon and eggs. When they looked up, Sokka rose from the table and walked over to them, clasping their shoulders with his hands.

"Morning, you two!" he greeted cheerfully. "Time to get some breakfast in your stomachs right away! But...I hope you two were doing anything...sensual...back in the room," he added a bit more seriously.

Katara felt offended that her brother still didn't trust them to sleep in the same room together. So she retorted, "Of course we didn't. You know Aang and I aren't ready yet."

"And we DO want a baby...but not yet, anyways," Aang added with the same deadpan look on his face that his girlfriend had.

Sokka nodded while holding his hands up, saying, "Okay, okay. Just saying."

"And good morning," Delia added from the sink. "Help yourselves to whatever's there."

They sat down at the table, where the table was laden with some breakfast foods that included bacon, eggs, toast, and even fish. Ben and Rika were already at one end of the table, eating peacefully and reading their favorite books while having a conversation with Toph, who was nodding occasionally before looking to the side. Delia was watching them with a smile before turning back to the sink and washing some dishes.

Having collected a plate for herself and sitting down, Katara looked over at the young mother at the sink. She felt that it would be rude if she didn't try to help around at a host's house, for she had learned from the older women of her tribe that to help a host of the house around would be a very kind and grateful thing to do.

"Can I help you with that?" she asked right away.

Delia looked over at her in mild surprise before smiling. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine. In fact, Misty and Brian helped me out with making breakfast."

Katara nodded. "Oh...okay. But are you sure you don't need help with anything else?"

"I'm sure," Delia said with the same gentle look. "We don't have house-elves, but we can get the job done and right. But...we're out of syrup for the pancakes, I'm afraid," she added, looking in the fridge and closing the door with a sigh. "We might have to go next door and ask Mrs. Weasley if we can borrow a bottle of it."

At the sound of the name "Weasley", Katara dropped the fork she was using for the eggs. This family actually knew the Weasleys, a family Harry had befriended the year before. She hadn't seen a house near them when they arrived the night before, but she guessed that the other houses would be hidden away by trees. But still...the discovery of the Weasleys being their neighbors was something that took her breath away.

"Weasley?" Toph spoke up, mirroring her thoughts. "You mean you know the Weasleys?"

Ben looked up from an animal book and said, "Yeah! They're nice people! But why do you wanna know?"

Toph replied, "We're friends with three of their sons at Hogwarts. The twins have a good sense of humor...something I like...and their youngest son's friends with Harry. It's good that they treat him like another brother."

"That's nice of them," Delia said, taking hold of a purse on the table. "I'm going over to the Weasleys for the syrup, and Brian's at work."

"Can we go with you?" Aang asked in the manner of an excited pre-teen. "We haven't seen Ron for months, and we wanted to check up on him and his family."

The young mother looked at him as if she didn't completely trust Team Avatar yet to come with her. Then her face lightened as she said, "Of course you can. And Misty said she can watch Ben and Rika for the day and even go to town...as long as they don't use their powers there," she added, looking quite sternly over towards her oldest daughter.

Misty rolled her blue eyes. "Of course we won't, Mom."

"And what's with the powers?" Sokka asked. "I don't wanna be rude about it, but what's with all the weird transforming and stuff?"

"We're a rare kind of morphing wizards and witches called Animorphs," Misty explained, sitting down between him and Katara. "Dad told me about it since we inherited it from him, so it's time to pass the stuff to you. Animagi are magic-folk who can transform into one animal at free will while Animorphs are magic-folk who can turn into any kinds of animals. We absorb some of the DNA in an animal-"

"DNA?" all four asked.

Noticing their confused looks, Delia spoke up, "It's deoxyribonucleic acid, and it's found in nearly all living beings as the main part of chromosomes. I took science classes to learn it."

Misty went on, "Yeah. Anyways, we absorb some of the DNA in an animal until we get a full copy of the animal in our minds. And when we think of it long enough, we can turn into that animal. But it's got its downsides. For one, we can't stay in the form of an animal for more than two hours or else we get stuck that way; that's what happened to Uncle Bob since he got stuck as a tortoise. And second is that you can't expose your powers to Muggles."

Aang let out a whistle as a comment. "Wow...I wish I can be one. Can you train to be one?"

"Sadly, no," Misty said with a small shrug. "It's one of those rare abilities that you have to be born with."

"Now how about we go to the Weasley place?" Sokka asked. "Don't get me wrong, I like a lesson as much as the next guy...but we can't waste all day!"

At this, he got up, picked up his plate, and carried it over to the sink. Katara saw him look to the side, the undecided look on his face telling her that he wanted to help out a bit. But she saw Delia look down at the plate and shake her head as if to say "I got this handled." So with a small shrug, Sokka walked over to the front door and looked back at the others.

When they didn't move, he said, "Come on, guys! Finish breakfast, and let's get on the road!"

"Okay, Snoozles, okay," Toph replied, getting up too. "Don't get that ponytail in a twist."

"It's a WARRIOR WOLF'S TAIL," Sokka grumbled back, pointing a thumb at his hair.

The others smiled and laughed at this.

**...**

So they were on the path to the Weasley's house, away from the forested area they had come to know for only hours. They were now out in the open, in a meadow that was decorated by hills and several rocks here and there. Momo was resting on Aang's shoulder and chirping as he looked around, and Katara guessed he must have sensed something by the way his long bat-like ears were twitching. As they climbed over various hills and smooth rocks, she felt like her feet were turning into stones due to all the walking.

Then as they went over one hill, they saw it: a strange house in the middle of the meadow. What was strange about it was that it was very tall and quite thin for a house, and a blue car was just outside the house, looking quite brand-new; Katara remembered seeing all sorts of cars when she and Aang spent a summer at Harry's house. Delia led the way down the hill and up to the front door while chickens darted around their feet, pecking at the ground. Once they got to the door, they knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting patiently for the owner of the house to come out and greet them.

Finally, as Katara looked over at a sign called "The Burrow", the door opened, and a woman answered them. She was plump and middle-aged and red-haired, but she had a kindly face that had been tampered with earlier by frustration.

"Delia?" she asked. Her smile became bright as she said, "It's good to see you again!"

"You too, Molly," Delia replied, bowing slightly. Pointing to the others, she said, "Sorry to not introduce the others; they arrived last night. The young man with the arrows is Avatar Aang, the blue-robed girl is his girlfriend Katara, the blue-clothed man is her brother Sokka, and the young blind girl here is Toph."

The members of Team Avatar added their greetings as Toph added, "Yeah, I know I'm blind."

Molly nodded to the rest of them. "It's nice to meet you four at last; Ron told me all about you." But then he voice became irritated as she muttered, "Though he failed to mention you when he and the twins drove that car last night."

"That car?" Katara had almost sworn she heard Brian say something about that the night before. "What car?"

"My husband's Ford Angila," Molly replied. "Right now, they're out back getting the gnomes out of the yard. Harry's with them and helping, bless his heart."

At once, Aang sped forth, asking, "Harry's here? When'd he arrive?"

Molly said, "This morning. My sons flew that car to Harry's last night and back here minutes ago. You're more than welcome to see Harry if you want."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Aang said, bowing slightly to her. To the others, he said, "Well, come on, guys! Let's go say hello!"

"Well, go ahead," Delia said with a beam. Turning back to Molly, she began, "Now as I was saying, we needed some syrup and wondered if you had any..."

So they all went around the tall and thin house until they were greeted by an expansive backyard, which looked like the Earth Kingdom plains. Wild plants were growing here and there, and there was also a pond with plenty of fish darting around here and there. Around their feet, strange little brown creatures were scuttling past on their hind feet, letting out squeals of excitement. Katara saw that they were quite ugly, but they seemed to want to have a good time. As they followed the trail of gnomes, she saw them.

Harry was there of course, Ron and the Weasley twins with him. They were spinning around and around, grabbing onto gnomes and throwing them into the air. Katara felt rather disturbed at how they were flinging these creatures into the air, but she saw that they were unhurt from it...even if they looked dizzy from it. Right now, their backs were turned on Team Avatar as they approved of one gnome that he threw hard.

Smiling, Katara snuck up to behind Harry and quickly placed her hands over his eyes, giggling. Then she said in a soft and playful voice, "Guess who, Harry?"

"Wha..." Harry turned around as the WaterBender removed her hands. He looked relieved as he hugged her, saying, "Katara! And Aang...and everyone! It's good to see you again! But...what're you all doing here?"

"Long story, Scarhead," Toph said with a smile as she and the others joined them. Momo ran by her to chase after the gnomes while the blind EarthBender went on, "We might wanna ask you the same question."

Harry's smile faded a bit as he replied, "Well, Ron and his brothers decided to pick me up from the Dursleys after my birthday. But the Dursleys ignored it."

"Your birthday?" Katara had totally forgotten that. So she gave Harry another hug and said with shame, "Harry, I'm so sorry. We forgot about it."

"It's fine," Harry tried to say.

But this time, Sokka cut Katara off by saying, "Of course it's not! No should have their birthday forgotten for whatever reason! We gotta get you a party!"

But Harry shrugged. "No, it's fine. But it's great seeing you guys again."

"Dad's home!"

At the sound of the Weasley twins, they hurried through the garden and into the house.

The first person Katara saw was a thin man slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He appeared to be going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

'What a night,' he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they sat down around him. 'Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned..." Then he took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Raids?" Sokka asked.

Fred (or George) nodded. "Yeah. Dad works in the Misuse Of Muggle Artifacts Office. He loves Muggles and everything to do with them." He turned back to his father and asked eagerly, "Find anything, Dad?"

Mr. Weasley nodded and yawned. "All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle. There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness...'

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" George asked.

"Just Muggle-baiting," their father sighed. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking; they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them; they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face. But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe..."

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?!"

Molly had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. Delia had appeared beside her, wearing a rather nervous-looking smile as she looked around her neighbor.

"C-cars, Molly, dear?" Mr. Weasley gulped.

"Yes, Arthur, cars," Molly said, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

_That would be fun, _Katara thought with a small smile. But she made the smile go away when she saw how irritated Molly looked.

Mr. Weasley blinked. "Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if...er...he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth. There's a loophole in the law, you'll find. As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't..."

Molly shouted, "Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law! Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Harry? Harry who?" Then Arthur looked around, saw Harry, and jumped, rasping, "Good lord...is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you; Ron's told us so much about you." To the Benders, he asked in a confused tone, "And who are you?"

"We're friends of Harry's, and we heard a lot about you from your son Ron," Aang replied, stepping forth. "We're from another world to attend Hogwarts. I'm Avatar Aang, the brown-haired blue-eyed girl is my girlfriend Katara, the guy next to her is her brother Sokka, and the blind black-haired girl sitting next to me is Toph."

Arthur shook his hand. "It's a good pleasure to meet you two. Ron and the others told me about you as well." To his wife, he asked, "When did Harry arrive?"

"This morning," Mrs. Weasley growled. "Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night! What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" Arthur asked his kids eagerly. 'Did it go all right? I-I mean..." he faltered as sparks flew from Molly's eyes, "...that was very wrong, boys...very wrong indeed..."

Everyone broke out laughing...all except for Molly. Noticing the look, Delia said, "Okay, we got the syrup now. We better get back to the house, kids."

"Yeah...but I've come to like this little place," Toph replied, getting up and pushing her chair in. "There's plenty of earth and rocks to Bend here."

"Well, you kids are welcome to come around anytime you want. We always appreciate having a guest over here sometimes." Arthur got up from his seat and walked over to Aang, shaking his hand again. "Good meeting you."

Aang nodded. "And you too, Mr. Weasley."

With that said and done, he followed the others out of the house and across the yard. Katara felt like she wanted to come over and visit sometime...if Molly would calm down first.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Here we go, folks! That was the newest chapter of Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! The next chapter will be in Toph's point of view. And I hope I got everyone in character here; if not, just tell me and I'll fix it.**

**Once again, I'm sorry for delaying this new chapter. And as for Delia, she's like Delia Ketchum from Pokémon by name, looks (partly), and nature. Plus, in a way or another, she also slightly reminds me of a character from The Legend Of Korra, and that's Pema, the wife of Tenzin and the daughter-in-law of Aang and Katara. In fact, she looks like her...and why not? Pema's a good mom and a pretty lady...with some attitude! But anyways...here's the review thing and the preview for Knockturn Alley.**

**Remember to read and review! Those who review will get a virtual plate of spaghetti and pizza of your choice complete with a drink and dessert of your choice. I do NOT allow flames or they will either be doused by WaterBending or used to heat up the pizza and spaghetti you'll receive. But advice is welcome here anytime, along with questions on your mind and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: Team Avatar joins Brian and his family in going to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies! But Toph senses that someone from their group (and the Weasleys) is missing! Can she find him in time before they leave him behind by accident!**

**See ya next time!**


	4. Back To Diagon Alley

**AvatarCat13: Hey there again, folks! This is gonna be the fourth chapter...sorry if I made that a bit obvious.**

**That aside, I'm here to tell you that it's two years since I graduated from high school. Two years! And what've I been doing this time? Uploading stories, keeping an eye on the dogs, and playing World Of Warcraft. Yeah, I did get a job and a small vacation to take a break, but thanks to the antics of the other dogs, I'm hoping to get another job or vacation soon.**

**Well...that's enough of that. On with the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Harry Potter. They belong to Bryke (Bryan and Mike) and J.K. Rowling, the three geniuses who created these two awesome series. But the only characters I DO own are the Davidson family.**

**Summary: Team Avatar joins Brian and his family in going to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies! But Toph senses that someone from their group (and the Weasleys) is missing! Can she find him in time before they leave him behind by accident?**

**Uploading Date: May 20, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**At Diagon Alley...Again**_

The Davidsons' place wasn't like the Weasleys' place, and neither was the family to an extent. They had seen that the Weasleys were poor yet kind, and as for the Davidsons...they were even richer, but they were kindhearted folk. Plus, the Burrow (the Weasleys' place) was rather tall with one room stacked on top of another while the Tunnels (the Davidsons' place) was partially underground. That part there was what Toph liked the best.

Things were also quite hectic thanks to the animals living here too, but she liked the small dog and cat they had. Their names were Holly and Aslan respectively, and they seemed to have taken a liking to Gin, who seemed to get along with them quite well. Momo did not like them, but he merely tolerated them in his presence, but if they got anywhere near his food, he would hiss at them until they left.

But Toph knew that Aang could handle animals like that. For now, though, she could work on her EarthBending before going to Hogwarts this year.

Right now, it was sunrise and a few days since they had arrived at the Davidsons' house, and it was the weekend. Brian was at home with the rest of them and his family, watching Aang and Toph having a practice EarthBending battle. Toph knew that, by the kind of stance she felt Aang was in, he wasn't going to be fully offensive. That was fine with her...which would give her some kind of advantage.

"Aren't AirBenders supposed to be gentle folks?" Brian asked, but it was a curious question.

"Yes sir," Katara spoke up, watching the friendly sparring match. "But there could still be plenty of opportunities for an attack. Aang might not be an EarthBender since AirBending Avatars can't learn EarthBending easily, but he's learning."

Hearing that the talk was getting distracting, Toph called, "You mind if you keep it down a bit, Sugar Queen? EarthBender's gotta focus!"

She didn't see Katara roll her eyes, but she heard her mutter, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sifu Toph. Continue if you please."

Toph turned back around before finding herself being pushed back a bit by Aang, who appeared to have had made armor or earth around him. So she pushed back with all her strength, digging her feet hard into the earth, and shoved him back a few feet. Aang broke down the armor and sent it at Toph in small bullets, which she countered by sacrificing her rock armor to make a shield out of rock. She kicked a piece of rock out of the shield and kicked it towards the Avatar, who quickly used AirBending to blow it away as a result.

The sound of whooshing air made Toph sigh and shake her head. Aang was a good EarthBender now despite being an AirBender, but he still had a lot more to learn about this element. So she walked over to him and flicked his forehead a bit hard with her fingers, making him yelp in mild hurt and surprise.

"You did it again, Twinkletoes," Toph told him. "How many times do I have to tell you this? Meet it head-on, not use your fancy AirBending to get around it."

"Sorry," Aang chuckled in mild embarrassment. "Can we go again?"

But before Toph could reply, Delia spoke up, "I'm afraid it'll have to wait for now. I think the school owl's arrived."

And lo and behold, the sound of an owl's wings reached Toph's ears, making her look up. The owl had dropped two letters before her and Aang before going over to Katara and Sokka for their letters. But it appeared that the bird wasn't done yet, for it flew over to the Davidson kids and dropped one last letter in Misty's arms.

"You got a Hogwarts letter!" Sokka exclaimed, looking down at it. "Open it up!"

Misty did so, and as she did, she let out a small gasp and read through the letter. Toph could tell that she was getting excited about receiving her first letter, and she recalled showing her own parents hers as well. Thanks to having been more understanding, her parents had allowed her to go to Hogwarts as long as she handled herself well. But still...Toph wondered if Brian and Delia would let her go there without any worries.

"You guys been to Hogwarts before?" Misty asked. Apparently, Team Avatar nodded due to murmurs of "Yeah" and "We've been there". And then, the young girl asked, "And you've been there too, Mom and Dad?"

"Yep," Brian said. "You see, misty, we were born in America, but we moved to England when we heard about Hogwarts, a place of opportunity. Your mother's Muggleborn, so her knowledge of science and other stuff can help you there. We're proud of you for going, Misty," he added, giving his oldest daughter a big hug.

Delia joined in, saying, "And please, Misty...be careful when you get there."

This made Toph smile at this little scene, remembering something like that. It was like what her parents had said when they allowed her to go to Hogwarts. At least Brian and Delia hadn't tried to shelter their daughter because of her abilities since her father had the same powers. But still, it would be good to have another friend to look after while at school; besides, she was also a few months younger than Aang...if he hadn't been frozen in the iceberg.

Smirking at Aang looking away, Toph kicked up a piece of earth the size of a marble and tossed it at him. It hit his shoulder, making him yelp in surprise before turning around and seeing her as he gave her a slightly indignant glare.

"Now that it's over, can we get back to practice?" Toph asked, raising a brow.

"Well...okay."

**...**

Team Avatar had gotten up the next morning, eager to head over to Diagon Alley to see Harry again. Just as Delia was ready to cook breakfast, Katara had quickly assisted her while learning to make some dishes not seen in the Avatar world. Toph had to admit that even though the WaterBender could sometimes be too motherly, she helped make some good food. Plus, she was also grateful for her friend's caring nature.

They had already gotten their stuff together, but they needed extra supplies for Hogwarts, their second year. Momo and Gin were staying at the place to keep Holly and Aslan company, but Toph did not bring her toad Boulder with her because he kept slipping out of her grasp. But in the meantime, she was just through with eating some bacon when Brian came to the house from work, explaining that he wanted to see his daughter get her supplies.

"Got the Floo Powder ready?" he asked Delia, kissing her lips lightly.

"Yep," Delia said. "We got some ready for plenty of guests."

"Floo Powder?" Aang piped up. "What's that?"

Brian explained, "It's what wizards and witches use in replacement of Apparating...which we'll tell you later," he added when Toph heard Aang nearly ask something. "You just take a bit of powder and wait until the fire turns green. Then step into the fireplace and shout out the place you want to go to, toss the powder down to your feet, and close your eyes to wait for your destination to pop up."

"Wow," Sokka whistled. "But what about Appa? He can-"

"...expose himself to the Muggles," Toph finished for him. "Fat chance for people to not notice a nine-ton bison, Snoozles."

Aang added, "Yeah, and I don't want the authorities to take Appa away...like last time."

Sokka nodded. "...oh..."

"One more thing," Misty spoke up. "Make sure you speak loudly and clearly on where to go to. Any mistake, and you'll find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Toph didn't feel quite comfortable about it now. She would rather walk on the ground...or even lava...than take some transportation that involved getting her feet off the ground. Travelling by Appa was okay, but that was because she trusted the flying bison.

Delia spoke up, "Rather than talk about it, why don't you show them Misty? Just take some powder here, and..."

The shuffling sound of feet made Toph know that the young girl had walked up to the fireplace, taking a deep breath as if she wasn't sure of herself. But as soon as she shouted "Diagon Alley!", she had suddenly vanished into thin air. Toph didn't need to see to learn of this, for she could not feel any vibrations at the fireplace anymore. And thanks to this super sense, it almost made her happy that she was blind.

The younger kids tried it and succeeded, disappearing from view, along with Sokka and Katara right behind them. Aang even went there and stayed silent for ten seconds before shouting "Diagon Alley!" And with a whoosh of air, the Avatar vanished.

Without much needed help, Toph clambered up to the fireplace, took a handful of powder, and closed her blind eyes. She focused on the feeling of extra cobblestone under her feet and the winding paths that led to different shops. And finally, opening her eyes wide, she shouted, "Diagonally!" and threw the powder down.

She felt like he was being sucked down a giant whirlpool. Toph was spinning very fast, and the roaring in her ears was earsplitting. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the whirl of flames made her feel sick as something hard knocked against her elbow. With a hiss of pain, she tucked it in tightly, still spinning and spinning and feeling like cold hands were slapping her. Feeling her breakfast churning inside her, she closed her eyes again wishing it would stop, and then...

Toph fell, face forward, onto cold stone, and got to her feet, dizzy, bruised, and covered in soot. She stumbled back, hearing someone gasp "Ow!" as she jumped back. From the unsteady way this person was standing, he was currently dizzy. And from the way she felt the heat coming from him, she whispered his name.

"Harry?"

"Toph?" Harry whispered back. "Wha...what're you doing here?"

Toph replied, "I got on the wrong side of the Floo travel stuff. You?"

Harry replied, "Fine...that, and I just broke my glasses. But where are we?"

"I don't know," the blind master EarthBender answered with a shrug. "What do you see since I'm blind?"

"Nothing on the Hogwarts list, that's for sure."

The sooner they got out of here, the better. Her nose still stinging where it had hit the earth, Toph led Harry as they made their way swiftly and silently toward the door, but before they got to it, two people appeared to be arriving. She heard Harry gasp and turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

"What's up?" she whispered.

"Malfoy," Harry whispered, hiding behind a cabinet.

Hearing about Harry's enemy from Hogwarts, Toph looked quickly around and shot inside the cabinet too and pulled the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer through. She knew it was Malfoy and a mean girl who insulted Kya (Katara and Sokka's mother) and made Katara cry the year before; no one would insult them except her...in a teasing way, of course.

Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop. He appeared to be escorted by another person, who was coming in and saying, "Touch nothing, Draco."

Draco whined, "Father, I thought you were going to buy me a present."

"I said I would buy you a racing broom," his father said, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team?" Draco complained in that whiny voice. "Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good; it's just because he's famous...famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead...everyone thinks he's so smart, _wonderful_ Potter with his _scar_ and his _broomstick_..."

_Someone's jealous, _Toph realized. But before Draco could complain some more, Mr. Malfoy said, "You have told me this at least a dozen times already. And I would remind you that it is not...prudent...to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear...ah, Mr. Borgin."

"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," a man said in an oily voice. 'Delighted...and young Master Malfoy too...charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced..."

"I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling," Mr. Malfoy said.

"Selling?"

Malfoy went on, "You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids. have a few...ah...items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call."

Mr. Borgin appeared to be looking down the at list. "The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?"

"I have not been visited yet," Mr. Malfoy replied with a hint of contempt. "The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act...no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it."

Toph felt her fists clench into fists of stone and felt the same angry heat from Harry. She had heard about all the prejudice from the Wizarding world...and the same from her world. Aang had often said that only national cooperation and friendship could work, but it appeared that people like Malfoy wanted to continue this bigotry. She looked up in time to hear Mr. Malfoy go on, "...and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear..."

"I understand, sir, of course," Mr. Borgin said. "Let me see..."

"Can I have that?" Draco interrupted, pointing at something.

Mr. Borgin scurried over to Draco. "Ah, the Hand of Glory! Insert a candle, and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir."

"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin," Mr. Malfoy said in a cold voice.

"No offense, sir, no offense meant," Borgin replied hastily.

Mr. Malfoy went on more coldly still, "Though if his grades don't pick up, that may indeed be all he is fit for."

Draco snapped, "It's not my fault. The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger..."

"...is tons smarter than you," Toph muttered so that only Harry could hear.

"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam," Mr. Malfoy snapped at his son.

Toph heard Harry whisper "Ha!" under his breath, feeling shame and angry from Draco. And she agreed with the Boy Who lived completely.

"It's the same all over," Mr. Borgin said in his oily voice. "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere."

"Not with me," said Mr. Malfoy.

"'No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Mr. Borgin.

Mr. Malfoy went on curtly, "In that case, perhaps we can return to my list. I am in something of a hurry, Borgin; I have important business elsewhere today."

So they started to haggle, but Toph felt Harry tense up beside her. She could feel Draco's light footsteps come nearer, examining the objects for sale. Draco paused to examine a hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals. Harry was whispering all the stuff into her ear when their enemy turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward and stretched out his hand for the handle...

"Done," Mr. Malfoy finally said at the counter. "Come, Draco. Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."

The moment the door had closed, Mr. Borgin dropped his oily manner and muttered to himself, "Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your manor..."

Muttering darkly, he disappeared into a back room. Toph and Harry waited for a minute in case he came back, and then, quietly as they could, they slipped out of the cabinet, past the glass cases, and out of the shop door.

Toph flinched a bit when she felt a rat's body squish beneath her feet; she liked being dirty, but this was overkill. Harry was looking around, so she grabbed his sleeve so that she wouldn't step on any rat bodies, but the air felt gloomy. The sooner they got out of this dark place, the better.

"Not lost are you, my dears?" a voice hissed in Harry's ear, making him jump. It appeared to be an old hag, someone like the old woman who taught Katara BloodBending.

Harry gulped. "We're fine, thanks. We're just..."

"On our way home," Toph added as the old woman made her way closer. "Seriously, we're fine, so you can go now. Prowl safely."

"HARRY! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"

Toph recognized the thick and gruff accent: it was Hagrid. The massive Hogwarts gamekeeper came striding toward them, panting and apparently shocked and worried.

"Hagrid!" Harry croaked in relief. "We were lost...Floo powder..."

Hagrid seized both kids by the scruffs of their necks and pulled them away from the witch, knocking a tray right out of her hands. Her shrieks followed them all the way along the twisting alleyway out into bright sunlight. Even though Toph was still blind, she felt the stone under her feet feel cleaner and smoother; Hagrid had steered them right into Diagon Alley.

"Yer both a mess!" Hagrid said gruffly, dusting Harry off while Toph did it to herself. "Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno, dodgy place...don' want no one ter see yeh down there. They'll think yeh're up to no good!"

"We know that now," Toph retorted while Harry added, "I told you, we were lost...wait, what were you doing down there, anyway?"

Hagrid looked down at them. "Me? Well, I was...lookin' fer a Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent. They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own?"

"I'm staying with the Weasleys, but we got separated," Harry said. "I gotta go and find them."

Toph added, "Same here...except for the Weasleys part. We're staying with the Davidsons."

They set off together down the street, and before Toph could walk further, she was greeted by someone hugging her tight. The blind EarthBender caught the sweet scent of wildflowers and realized that it was Katara who had come to greet her. The latter was saying, "Toph, where in the world were you? We've heard that you were missing along with Harry, and we've all been worried sick!"

"Let her breathe, sis." Sokka had arrived along with Aang. "But seriously, Toph, where'd you go to? An EarthBending store?" he added as a joke.

"Nope. I went to Knockturn Alley," Toph replied. "But we're fine."

"Knockturn Alley?!" A familiar worried voice made them turn around. "Oh, I hope you two were alright!"

Toph didn't need to ask who it was, for Aang spoke up, "Hermione! It's great to see ya!"

Hermione greeted him, "You too, Aang...and everyone too! I heard you were shopping with the Davidsons. I hope you find them!"

"No worries, kid. Already here."

That was Brian, sounding relieved to see them all in one piece. Other voices to the side told Toph that Harry had been reunited with the Weasleys as well, and the Davidsons had come over to chat with them before rejoining Team Avatar. Toph had heard that they were good friends, but she never knew that they were this close.

"Guess who I saw in Knockturn Alley?" she asked them later as they stopped for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, the first place Team Avatar ever went to in Harry's world. "I saw Malfoy there, the kid who made Sugar Queen cry. He was there with his dad, selling some kind of stuff."

"Dark stuff?" Brian asked, leaning forward. "I bet what Lucius is doing: hiding his Dark Wizard stuff and sucking up to the Minister. And yes, he works with me at the Ministry." His voice got a bit bitterer as he went on, "I still can't believe Fudge would even hire him, the slimeball."

Delia leaned forth and said, "Dearest, don't go picking a fight. I agree with you, but you don't want to get into trouble for attacking a fellow Ministry worker."

Brian sighed. "You're right, sweetie. Sorry to make you worry."

"Why is this Lucius guy bad?" Sokka asked. "And how bad is he?"

"He's one of those who turned back to the good side...or so he says," Brian explained. "He was one of You-Know-Who's top followers, but he told us that he was brainwashed...that's a load of crap, I say." Ignoring Delia's exclamation of "Brian!", he went on, "If he says he's truly changed for the better, then I'll eat Big Mama for a snack."

Just then, Katara spoke up, "Should we get back to school shopping? It's almost noon now."

So they got up from their seats, paid for the food, and headed back outside to Diagon Alley.

**...**

An hour later, they headed over for Flourish and Blotts, ready to get their books. But as they all approached it, Aang noticed a large crowd shoving outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:

**GILDEROY LOCKHART****will be signing copies of his autobiography**

**MAGICAL ME**

**Today 12:30 P.M - 4:30 P.M.**

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "He's written almost the whole booklist!"

The crowd was made up mostly of witches around Molly's age. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly please, ladies. Don't push, there...mind the books now."

Aang looked to the side, wondering if Katara would be jumping up and down like one of the witches. Instead, he was amazed to see her look so calm and cool about the entire thing. It was perhaps due to having a good bond with him that let her keep her cool. Letting her hold his hand, Aang led her inside the story to join their friends and the Golden Trio.

A long line twisted right to the back of the shop, where the man named Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. Aang and his friends each grabbed a copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who had joined them. This person must have been important to bring over as much people as he could to this crowded bookstore.

"Oh, there you are," Molly said, sounding breathless. ''We'll be able to see him in a minute."

Gilderoy Lockhart himself came slowly into view, seated at a table enclosed by large pictures of himself, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd; they were so bright that you could see yourself in them. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of baby blue that matched his eyes, and his pointed wizard's hat was set at a cheery angle on his crimped hair. A short irritable-looking man was turning around, taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way," he snarled at Ron and Sokka, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

"Big flipping woo-hoo!" Sokka muttered as Ron growled "So what?" at the same time.

But Gilderoy Lockhart heard them. He looked up, saw Ron and Sokka...and then he saw Harry. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause, but Aang saw that Harry didn't like this at all by the way his face turned red. So he sped through the crowd as Lockhart shook Harry's hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.

"Nice big smile, Harry," Lockhart was saying through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

"He's not on the front page," Aang muttered, the top of his shaved head nearly touching his chin. "Now stop it. You're embarrassing him."

Noticing him, Lockhart (to his dismay) said, "Oh, all right then, Arrow Boy! You too!" So Aang had to grin on the outside, but his inside was screaming, _Please get us outta here! I'd rather eat fireballs than take another picture!_

When Lockhart finally let go of Harry's hand, Aang tried to get Harry to sidle back over to the Weasleys. But Lockhart threw an arm around their shoulders and clamped them tightly to his side, to the Avatar's fury. He recalled when he had his own fan club of little girls at Kyoshi Island years ago, and with a burning shame, he remembered how haughty he acted just to get Katara's attention. But this guy...he was just overegging the pudding.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." Lockhart called loudly, waving for silence. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography, which I shall be happy to present him and his arrow headed friend now, free of charge."

The crowd applauded again, and Lockhart continued, "They had no idea that they would shortly be getting much, _much_ more than my book, Magical Me. They and their schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped, and Harry was being presented with the entire book collection of Gilderoy Lockhart. Seeing him staggering slightly under their weight, Aang managed to take some books and edge their way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron. Misty was beside them, apparently keeping her blue eyes on Lockhart; from the rapt way she stared at him, Aang wondered if she was crushing on him too.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" an unpleasantly familiar voice growled. It was Draco Malfoy, Harry's callous counterpart, wearing his usual sneer. "Famous Harry Potter...can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny, the youngest girl, spoke up, glaring up at him.

Malfoy stared down at her in repugnance before drawling scornfully, "Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!"

Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione fought their way over, holding Lockhart's books. Ron glared at Malfoy and growled, "Oh, it's you. Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," Malfoy sneered. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went as red as Ginny, dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy. But Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket as Sokka growled, "Haven't changed, eh? How about I stick this boomerang in your eye and see how you'll be changed?!"

"Ron!" Arthur was struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here; let's go outside."

"Well, well, well...Arthur Weasley."

It was Mr. Malfoy, standing with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way. By the way Arthur was nodding coldly and said "Lucius" in a calm way, they could be rivals towards one another. And he wasn't the only one; Brian was glaring at him before sinking back into the crowd, making Aang confused. What was he doing?

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," he said in a smooth ingratiating voice. "All those raids...I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. He put them back and sneered, "Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur said.

"Clearly," Lucius sniffed, his pale eyes straying to the Grangers, who were watching uneasily. "The company you keep, Weasley...and I thought your family could sink no lower."

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying and Arthur threw himself at Lucius, knocking him back into a bookshelf. Just then, a tabby cat leapt down from a shelf and onto the blonde-haired man's head, scratching and biting wherever it could reach. Dozens of heavy books came thundering down on all their heads, and the cat let out a hiss as Lucius kicked it away.

There was a yell of "Get him, Dad!" from the twins, Molly and Delia yelling, "No, Arthur/Brian, no!", and the crowd going back, knocking more shelves over. The store assistant was calling, "Gentlemen, please...please!", and the cat rolled away a bit before leaping back into the crowd.

Finally, there was a cry of "Break it up, there, gents, break it up!" as Hagrid waded to them through the sea of books. In an instant, he had pulled Arthur and Lucius apart just as the cat disappeared and Brian appeared in its place. Arthur had a cut lip, Brian was clutching his now-bleeding chest with a smirk on his face (as if he thought it was worth it), and Lucius was hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools.

The latter was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book, but he thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with spite as he spat, "Here, girl. Take it; it's the best your father can give you."

Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip, he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him," Hagrid said, almost lifting Arthur and Brian off their feet as they flattened their robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter; bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now, let's get outta here."

The assistant looked like he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to change his mind. The two families split up and hurried up the street, Delia beside herself with fury, snapping, I can't believe you and Arthur did that, Brian! And in public too!"

Toph shrugged. "I thought it was kinda cool. Besides, Slimy Dude had it coming. Him and that little brat of his."

"I agree with you there, Toph...but Delia's also right," Katara added. "I know what it's like to see a friend fighting in public."

"You're talking about the time I got in trouble at the school in the Fire Nation, are you?" Aang asked her in a deadpan tone.

Katara nodded. "Yep."

Aang shrugged as they headed back to the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. He knew he would have liked to use AirBending to reach this place, but he knew he would be seen in public. But despite the Floo Powder being easy to use, it made him feel uncomfortable, so he was no longer looking forward much to using it next time. To him, it wasn't the best way to travel.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Like I've said before (or have I here?), I'm sorry I haven't uploaded lately. I've been quite busy a lot lately and doing stuff: playing World Of Warcraft, writing other stories, keeping an eye on the house, and getting some puppies adopted (we now have only two puppies with us now). So please forgive me if I don't update stories lately.**

**Still, there's gonna be plenty of adventures ahead like morphing jokes, giant mishaps, and the usual Quidditch thing. But first, before we do the preview, I'd like to say something. I've decided to become a true author in real-life; yep, I'm making my own book series inspired by several things in real-life and in fiction. I'll show it on my profile, so feel free to view it sometime.**

**Remember to read and review! Those who do will get a virtual voodoo figurine of Lucius Malfoy and his son; yeah, I know they turn around later (sorry about the spoiler), but they sure were fox-hearts. I don't allow flames on this story, but I welcome any questions, advice, and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: The return to Hogwarts is taking place at long last. Harry and Ron mysteriously do not show up, so they have to continue the journey without them. While on the train, the Golden Trio and Team Avatar encounter a familiar nasty rival...and a familiar face. Is this person going to let things remain in the past after ages of fighting for his/her home, or is this person going to hate them?**

**See ya next time!**


	5. Return To Hogwarts

**AvatarCat13: Hey there, everyone! And welcome to another chapter! Sorry that this is kinda a lame way to start the chapter, don't you thing? To make up for that, I've decided to add this too.**

**I'm still trying hard to write my book called Land Of The Wild, which has a mix of Avatar: The Last AirBender, Warrior Cats, Seeker Bears, Survivor Dogs, and mildly Harry Potter. I'll give you the reasons how they're based off of those stuff on my profile...or did I do that already? But anyways, if you'd like, you can help me out with the plots and characters...if you want to, that is.**

**So anyways, here's the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Avatar: The Last AirBender or Harry Potter. Those belong to Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling...but I DO own Brian Davidson and his family. Their abilities? Nope. This was inspired by Animorphs, which I don't own either. And I love the music of Phil Collins, but I don't own his music.**

**Summary: ****The return to Hogwarts is taking place at last. Harry and Ron mysteriously do not show up, so they have to continue the journey without them (No, I don't want to do the car scene since I feel a bit lazy about it). While on the train, the Golden Trio and Team Avatar encounter a familiar nasty rival...and a familiar face. Is this person going to let things remain in the past after ages of fighting for his/her home, or is this person going to hate them?**

**Uploading Date: June 1, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The Return To Hogwarts**_

The last few days at the Davidsons' place wasn't too eventful if you could count Aslan catching a mouse right in front of them at dinner. Sokka saw that Katara and Delia nearly freaked out at this...but he didn't mind. There needed to be a bit of weirdness sometimes...and he should know, since he recently called himself the "Comic Relief Guy", taking pride in being funny. He knew there was a time for being funny or being serious...and this was a time for the latter.

Before going to bed that night, Sokka made sure everything was packed before settling down for preparation for tomorrow. This was going to be another exciting adventure, just like last year. It would be another year of helping Harry (and his friends Ron and Hermione) out during the year as long as nothing bad happened. Perhaps he could share more of their world some more with the students like they did before.

Sokka did manage to see Aang and Katara kiss each other good-night before getting to their beds. He was tempted to say that they gave him the oogies since he saw them, but he didn't say a word. If he said anything about it, he would be hit in the face by snowballs his sister had been fond of making and tossing at him. So instead, he gave a small shrug and rolled over in his own bed, quickly falling asleep.

**...**

Once again, Big Mama the owl woke them up, but Sokka noticed while rubbing his eyes that Aang and Katara were already up. He knew they wouldn't go into anything deeper than oogies at the moment, but he was still concerned for his little sister. But his growling stomach told him that he could worry about it later, so he gave a loud yawn and a stretch before getting up and checking on if he was packed up and everything. Once he was sure he was done, he settled on heading downstairs for breakfast.

Brian and Delia were in the kitchen already, making breakfast together; Sokka was happy that he was no longer sexist (thanks to Suki), since he saw that they made a great team. Aang and Katara were already there too, talking with the kids and watching Rika turn into a canary often and giving them a wonderful bird song. The other two were looking through the spellbooks Misty had gotten in Diagon Alley, Toph beside them and nodding a bit as she listened to them chatter.

Finally, when breakfast was over, the time to leave had arrived. Sokka went back upstairs and double-checked on the stuff he packed before noticing the others coming upstairs and packing up. The Davidsons had packed up and were ready to leave in their van, so they had just a few minutes to get inside.

"You guys ready for our second year at Hogwarts?" Sokka asked once they got to the van. "It's gonna be awesome!"

"We also have to study for the tests there and stuff," Aang piped up. "Trust me, it sounds great, but there's more to Hogwarts than that."

This made Sokka's face fall somewhat. "Oh, right...the mission."

He helped Toph get into the van, which was quite roomy and could seat ten people, before Aang and Katara got in after them in the farthest seats. Momo and Gin went in after them, and Sokka guessed Appa would be transported to Hogwarts like last year. As the van pulled out of the driveway, he wondered who would take care of the animals for a while, but he saw why they were taken good care of. House elves that were like Dobby (though less timid) were feeding one of the stags Brian rescued on the road, a strong stag whose "DNA" he absorbed to become one.

Along the way to the Hogwarts station, Sokka could have sworn that there was some kind of song coming from nowhere. This was what the song sounded like:

_I can feel it coming in the air tonight_

_Oh Lord_

_And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life_

_Oh Lord_

_Can you feel it coming in the air tonight_

_Oh Lord, oh Lord_

It sounded rather calm, yet it sounded like it had some deep meaning to it. In the meantime, Aang had asked, "I've never heard of a song like this. What is it?"

"It's some kind of pop music along with rhythm and blues," Delia told the Avatar, turning her head to him. "And the song is called In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, a song from the late seventies and early eighties."

"Phil Collins?" Katara asked, sounding as interested as her boyfriend.

Rika, who was sitting next to Misty, said, "Yep. He's from here, but he's getting popular in America. That's where we were born."

"That's right, Rika," Brian said from the front, not taking his eyes off the road. "But if you want, you can listen to some Phil Collins music if you want to come over for Christmas."

"Well..." Aang shared a look with Katara as he replied, "We kinda promised Katara's dad and grandma that we'd spend Christmas with them."

Brian gave an understanding nod and continued driving.

Finally, they had arrived at the London train station, which reminded Sokka even more of the monorails seen in Ba Sing Se. Except these trains weren't powered by EarthBending...they were powered by some kinds of electric thing in the tracks and the machines. This made him think of what their world would be like if this kind of technology

Sokka and Team Avatar helped unload their stuff along with the Davidsons until they were all on trolleys. He knew what they were all going to do next: to enter the Hogwarts Express, they had to run through the barrier of Platform Nine And Three Quarters. It might not be visible to non-magic people called Muggles, but he seemed to understand it a lot even though he was a non-Bender in his world. But he had no idea what would happen if they couldn't get through.

"Okay, Misty. You got around ten minutes," he heard Brian tell his daughter. "And make sure you study every day and make new friends. We love you."

"Yeah!" Ben spoke up as he and Rika supposedly hugged their sister. "We love ya, sis!"

The next thing Misty said made Sokka smile momentarily: "I love you too, guys. See you at Christmas, everyone."

He turned back to the barrier and pushed his trolley on through, wondering if it stayed solid or let people through. When he closed his eyes, preparing for the worst, he found himself stopping and closing his eyes, catching sight of a familiar train. It was a large red train, steam pouring out from the top like mist, and plenty of kids were climbing on board with last goodbyes and stuff. Sokka looked on ahead to see his friends already getting on board before they were joined by Misty, whose luggage they brought on board for her. Not wanting to miss anything else, he ran over to them and got his stuff on board.

A few minutes later, they were all on the train and pulling out of the train station. Misty had quickly joined Ginny and another girl, a pale-haired blonde girl, in another compartment while Team Avatar got their compartment. Sokka was happy to have Momo with them, for along with the Water Tribe warrior, the lemur provided good humor in the group. Gin, in the meantime, was stretched out over Aang and Katara's laps, panting in ease as they scratched his ears.

_What to do now? _Sokka thought, looking down at his bag. _I can look up those plans on Republic City the council let me borrow._

"You mind if I let Gin go for a walk?" Aang asked Katara, turning to her.

"Sure," Katara replied with a smile. "You gave me Gin for my birthday on my sixteenth birthday, so I like to think of Gin as your dog too."

Aang smiled back at her and kissed her lips lightly. "Okay, sweetheart. Come on, Gin," he told the dog, getting up. "Let's go for a short walk."

Gin barked and headed over to the compartment door, his curly tail wagging wildly. Wanting to come along for some company, Sokka got up and followed Aang to the door, opening it and heading out. Once they were out, he recalled their kissing and thought, _Glad to get away from those oogies._

They headed down the hall, where they met up with the middle-aged witch who handed out sweets for the ride. Sokka felt a bit hungry since breakfast, so he bought some sweets and headed back to their booth, where he set them down. He had a feeling that Katara and Toph would want to eat some of it, but he didn't mind a bit. As long as they didn't get grossed out by the Every Flavored Beans or didn't touch the Licorice Wands, it would be fine. Once he set the sweets down and said he would be back, Sokka headed back to Aang and Gin, who were waiting for him nearby.

All of a sudden, a black-&-tan blue jumped out in front of Aang and Sokka, snarling. It was a dog, but it looked much different from Gin. First of all...it was black-&-tan, of course. Second, it had cropped erect ears and a stubby tail along with a short pelt and a jewel-studded collar. And third...it was not a friendly dog, for it was baring its fangs at them and snarling. Sokka wondered whose dog it was.

"Hey there," Aang tried to say, reaching out his hand to pet the dog. "Where's your owner at? We can help you get back."

But instead of letting him pat its head, the dog snapped its teeth at his hand, only for Aang to pull back in time in shock. A bark made them looked down at Gin, who was standing nose-to-nose with the new dog as they snarled at each other, their fur bristling. They were a bit like wolves now by the way they were snarling, their lips peeled back to reveal their snarling muzzles.

"Sniper! Over here!"

Hearing a familiar drawling voice, Sokka saw "Sniper" look away and reluctantly walk away over to a nearby booth. He himself stiffened with tension as the owner of the dog stepped out to confront them with a sneer as three other people joined him. Two of them were big and fat with burly muscles, and the third person was a girl with an ugly pug-like face and a constant sneer. As for the fourth person...Sokka recalled seeing this person a week ago.

"Malfoy?" Aang asked, speaking for Sokka's thoughts. "Is this your dog?"

Draco sneered, "Yes. Sniper's a Doberman Pinscher, and he's been raised to hate anyone who isn't Slytherin. He keeps up with his job rather well."

"Raising him to hate non-Slytherins?" Sokka asked skeptically. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

The ugly girl known as Pansy Parkinson snapped, "Draco is a genius since his dog's keeping the Mudbloods away! And you!" She turned her sneering face to Aang. "Have you and that ugly peasant broken up yet?"

Aang shook his head. "No. Remember what we said before? It doesn't matter what bloodline a couple has, as long as-"

"Of course it matters, and I'll show you why," Draco hissed. "Get him, Sniper!"

Sniper let out a bark and pounced at the Avatar, who was prepared to defend himself. But there was no need, for Gin had sprung in between them and slammed Sniper to the ground. The black-&-tan dog snarled up at him as he tried to sink his fangs into his throat, but Gin got out of the way, but not before being caught by his claws. With a grunt, the silver-furred dog fell down to the floor while Sniper pounced onto him and sank his teeth into his neck fur.

Sokka didn't want to see his sister's dog get killed, so he rushed over to Sniper and physically tried to pry his teeth loose. But all Sniper did was just growl through the mouthful of fur and continued sinking his teeth in further. He knew there was only one thing to do at a time like this, and he had seen what happened when a polar dog once bit a child and wouldn't let go: they would have to break its teeth.

But just before he could get his machete out, he heard Katara call "Gin! What's happening?!"

His sister was dashing over to Gin's side and crouched down to see him. She then glared up at Draco and asked, "Is this your dog? Make him let Gin go!"

"Why?" Draco sneered. "He's not from our world, so Sniper's teaching him a lesson. After all, we don't want a dog that belongs to a Mudblood."

"A what?" both Katara and Aang asked, now looking confused. Sokka had also wondered what that meant...but it didn't sound good.

"It means dirty blood...and that's what you are!" Pansy sniffed at her. As Sokka saw Katara begin to snarl, the ugly girl went on, "We heard your story, and you and your brother have tainted the world with your dirty blood! So do us a favor and drop dead!"

"No one's committing suicide."

At this, a flail whizzed past the Water Tribe siblings and chipped at Sniper's ear. The black-&-tan dog yelped in pain before letting go of Gin and running back to his master, blood dripping from a tear in his ear. Draco and Pansy gave the dog a shocked look before glaring at Team Avatar...who looked behind them at the newcomer.

There was a new girl behind them, golden eyes glittering as she pulled the flail back to her side. She was wearing Earth Kingdom robes like rich people would wear at fancy parties, but her eyes and hair style (which was a bit like the kind Zuko's girlfriend Mai had) looked like she was from the Fire Nation. But Sokka just noticed that the girl's robes had stripes of red that very certainly symbolized the colors of the Fire Nation in spite of wearing Earth Kingdom robes. Now he thought he recognized this person from Yu Dao.

_Is that...Kori Morishita?_

"You don't learn at all, do you, Parkinson?" the girl asked in the same calm tone as Kori. "I heard about people like you from General Iroh. You and Malfoy better watch your words before your tongues get pulled out. Now do ME a favor and leave them alone."

Draco and Pansy glared at her as if they were going to attack her, and Sokka even saw their hands reach into their robes for their wands. But thanks to the flail she carried around, they began to back away from her and went back into their booth, Sniper growling and following them. Aang and Katara had gotten down to the ground, tending to Gin's wounds; the silver-furred dog looked weakly up at Kori and wagged his curly tail weakly, apparently thanking her for saving his life.

"Thank you, Kori," Katara told said girl, looking up at her in gratitude. "If it weren't for you...my dog would've suffered a lot more."

Sokka thought Kori would say something tetchy, knowing that she hadn't liked them during the Harmony Restoration Movement. He was surprised as she gave a small smile and said, "It's no problem, really. I just wanted to show those two that they can't mess with other people all the time. And I saw how rude they were being...and what they said ticked me off."

It was true, for Kori was a Fire Nation girl born to a Fire Nation mayor and an EarthBender. Aang interrupted Sokka's thoughts as he asked, "So what brings you onto the Hogwarts train? I thought you'd be back in Yu Dao."

"Well...I wanted to take time off before heading back," Kori told the Avatar, still scratching Gin's ears. "That chance came when I got the Hogwarts letter. I even asked Sneers if he wanted to come along, but he said he'd be fine with the other Freedom Fighters." As Sokka thought _That reminds me of what Suki told me, _she went on, "So what Houses are you in?"

"Katara and I are both in Gryffindor, Sokka's in Ravenclaw, and Toph's in Hufflepuff," Aang explained. "So what House do you plan on being in?"

Kori fished out a piece of paper from her bag and read through it, saying, "I'm not sure. But if I had to choose one, I'd be in either Hufflepuff or Slytherin."

"SLYTHERIN?!" Sokka asked, his voice raised in shock as he ignored Katara hissing at him to quiet down. "Why there?"

"I've heard about the enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and it reminded me of how the Fire Nation was at war with the other nations," Kori answered with a shrug. "I was thinking on this: what if I went into Slytherin and recruit some into showing that Slytherin's not that bad. So what do you say?"

It took a while for them to think about it. Then Katara finally answered, "...it sounds risky, but I don't see how this can fail."

Sokka nodded with her. "Yeah. I mean, the Fire Nation's like the other nations now. So why can't Slytherin be the same? And would you like to come with us and finish some snacks?"

Kori nodded, and they went back to the booth, Katara and Kori carrying Gin since he was a bit too weak to walk from the attack. Once they were there, they found out that Toph had already started on practicing Bending her space earth and eating some of the sweets herself. The four of them settled down and began eating some sweets, but once, Sokka had seen Hermione pass by them, saying hello before heading off again and muttering.

What had gotten her worried? And Harry and Ron weren't with her. Sokka wondered what had gotten her frantic like this...perhaps from not being able to study much. But still...she also looked like she wanted to scold someone; would she scold Harry and Ron if they reappeared from where they were? A toot of the train whistle pulled him out of his thinking space as he and his friends picked their stuff up and headed outside.

It was night outside, and Hagrid was already sieged around the sea of students, calling "Firs' years! This way, firs' years!" Noticing them going after the first years, he waded over to them and said, "Hullo, kids! Sorry, but yeh gotta go with th' others to them carriages."

"Carriages?" Kori asked, looking around.

"Yeah. Over there."

They looked over to where Hagrid was pointing at: around a hundred carriages or so were parked at the lakeshore. Sokka had never noticed them, for he and his friends preferred going over to the boats with the other first years. As they walked over to them, he suddenly saw their mounts and had to keep a shout from erupting from his mouth.

There appeared to be smooth-coated horses...but these were not the kind he had seen in Harry's world. These ones were large, black, and emaciated in appearance (like skeletons) with blank white eyes that sometimes rolled into the backs of their heads. Large black leathery wings hung to their sides, and as they whinnied an eerie sound, their mouth revealed sharp canine teeth. This made Sokka feel a bit fascinated...and a lot more spooked and confused; perhaps only he could see these animals.

A gasp from beside Sokka made him turn to see Katara looking over at these strange beasts with wide blue eyes. He realized he wasn't as crazy as he thought he was.

"What's up?" Toph asked. "What'd you see? And don't ask me if I saw anything. I'm blind!"

"I know," Katara retorted. "But...I just saw a strange animal. It looks like a skeleton!"

Aang looked around before looking back. "I don't see anything."

Kori looked around too. "Yeah, me neither. Are you sure you're not dreaming, Katara?"

"She's not," Sokka spoke up for his sister. "I can see 'em too."

The others merely shrugged and got into the nearest carriage, though Sokka did see Draco and his posse use Sniper as an intimidator to scare kids out of the best seats. But the weird horses made him feel even more confused and concerned about it; why wouldn't the others believe him and Katara about what they saw? Could it be that they only appeared to certain people's eyes?

But as he saw another carriage pass them (containing Misty, Ginny, and the pale-blonde girl), he heard the third girl whisper, "Oh, don't worry, water boy. I can see them too. You and your sister are just as sane as I am."

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: I hope you all liked this chapter! In fact, I think this episode would've been so long with the Sorting that I might put it up for the next chapter. But don't you worry; I'll do my best to upload the best I can. But before we go on with some of the extras, let me say a little something first.**

**Yep, the thestrals have arrived at last. And those of you wondering why Sokka and Katara could see them while the other can't...they saw Yue die in Book 1. And Katara also saw her mother die...I think. And I wanted to include a Phil Collins song in here because for a few reasons. The first is that I'd like for Aang and Katara to sing a song of his later, and the second is that I love his songs. And yep, there's another dog from Ginga Nagareboshi Gin on here; the others may come later.  
**

**So remember, folks, read and review! Those who do can get a virtual pizza of their choice along with a dessert and drink. And if you review, be sure to vote for which House Kori will be Sorted into. Remember, though, I do NOT allow flames, but advice, questions, and constructive criticism (as long as it's not harsh) are always welcome.**

**Preview: Aang and his friends, along with their new friend Kori Morishita, have finally made it to Hogwarts, where the Sorting begins. They also hear Dumbledore say that Harry and Ron indeed make it back, but will he say how? And what House will Kori be Sorted into: Hufflepuff or Slytherin?**

**See ya next time!**


	6. The New Sorting

**AvatarCat13: Hey, everyone, and welcome to a new chapter of Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! We'll be going through the Sorting at last and continue this! But before we go on, I'd like to say a little something.**

**So who's seen the preview for The Legend Of Korra Book 2: Spirits already? It looked really REALLY awesome...that's something The Miz would say. So far, Korra's gonna be coming across rogue spirits and learning from her uncle about the Avatar State. It'll be really epic to see new characters arrive...and I hope Zuko comes back.**

**Sorry about the rant. On to the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Have I ever owned Avatar: The Last AirBender or Harry Potter? Nope, and I never will or want to. They belong to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling. Only Misty Davidson belongs to me, though I don't own her power. That belongs to the Animorphs series.**

**Summary: Aang and his friends, along with their new friend Kori Morishita, have finally made it to Hogwarts, where the Sorting begins. They also hear Dumbledore say that Harry and Ron indeed make it back, but will he say how? And what House will Kori be Sorted into: Hufflepuff or Slytherin?**

**Uploading Date: June 13, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The New Sorting**_

Once they reached the doors to the Hogwarts castle, Aang felt nervous about coming here again. It had been around three months since they had been here, and he and his friends were still eager to see what would happen this year. Recalling Lockhart and how he treated Harry, the AirBender Avatar had to remind himself that the raven-haired boy would need some help this year.

But Aang was pulled out of his thoughts as the doors opened to reveal one person standing there. It was Professor Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, Transfiguration teacher, and head of Gryffindor all in one go. Aang knew that because of this witch's stern and no-nonsense attitude, she was not one to cross.

"Welcome back, returning students," she began speaking. "If you would please, kindly go over to the Great Hall and wait for us. I shall be there shortly after I introduce the first years."

The students nodded and headed over towards the doors that hid the Great Hall. As Aang made it through the doors, noticing the sky-ceiling and the long four tables, he felt someone squeeze his hand with their warm soft hand. But he didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Are you sure it's a good idea, Aang?" Katara asked him. "You know...letting Kori join us."

Aang nodded and faced her this time. "Yeah. Besides, I don't trust many of the Slytherins thanks to the way they're raised...and I know you don't trust them because of Malfoy and his friends. But we should give the good Slytherins a chance."

Katara nodded, though she still looked anxious. "Okay. I don't trust most of them anyways...but I trust you, sweetie."

"I know, sweetheart."

"Let's go, you two!" Toph barked from behind them. "You gonna talk around until you block us, or are you gonna walk in?"

The two muttered "Sorry" before heading over towards the tables. Right away, Sokka and Toph went for their House tables (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively) while Aang and Katara sat at the Gryffindor table. Aang looked up at the staff table and was happy to see the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, sitting at the front seat, smiling kindly at the students. Beside him were the other teachers like Flitwick of Ravenclaw (who taught Charms, Sprout of Hufflepuff (who taught Herbology), and Snape of Slytherin (who taught Potions). Sitting in the other seats were Professors Sinistra who taught Astronomy and Vector who taught Arithmancy.

Yet Snape got up from his seat and headed over towards the door towards the back, sneering. Aang wondered what was up with him, but he didn't like whatever he was going to do. If it had something to do with Harry...he would have to bet that the hook-nosed teacher would complain about Harry and the "special attention" he would get.

But a flash made the Avatar look around...and turn away with a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was already there, beaming as if he was the world's greatest gift. Aang knew what it was like to brag and boast about his powers...and it taught him a valuable lesson. As if hearing the groan coming from him, Hermione, who was sitting between him and Neville Longbottom, turned to him.

"What's wrong, Aang?" she asked.

"Nothing," Aang muttered, shaking his head. "And what was up with you earlier? You looked like you were worried about something."

Hermione sighed. "Harry and Ron haven't appeared on the school train, and I'm worried for them now. What if they can't make it back to Hogwarts?"

"They'll be fine, Hermione," Katara told the bushy-haired girl. "In fact, I bet they got help and are on their way right now."

This didn't make Hermione look better, but she let it go.

McGonagall had arrived as she escorted the first years into the room, younger people including Ginny Weasley and the pale-blond girl they kept seeing. There was also a boy with something Harry had called a camera, which was used to take pictures of people. Misty was even among them, and people did not give her any weird looks yet; perhaps she had yet to reveal her unique abilities. And the Sorting Hat itself was brought over before them on a stool, a black wizard's hat whose job was to think of the student's House and announcing it for everyone to hear.

"When I call your name, you are to come over to the Hat and be Sorted into your new House," McGonagall was saying.

But before Aang could hear the first student's name, he felt himself feel light as he found himself flying on his glider in the night sky. A blue car was somehow flying through the air, something like the one the Weasleys talked about when they visited. Harry and Ron were in there with the snowy white owl named Hedwig who belonged to Harry. They had crashed into a large and old willow tree...which had started pummeling the car, making him feel sick.

"Aang? Are you okay?"

Katara had shaken him awake just in time for "Creevey, Colin!" to become a Gryffindor. Aang looked around at his girlfriend and saw concern in her blue eyes. She went on, "You kinda spaced out for a moment. What's up?"

"I...just had a vision," Aang said. He added quickly, "It's not a really bad one. I saw Harry and Ron in it...and they were flying that 'car' to Hogwarts...but a tree started beating them up."

"A tree?" Hermione had spoken up, looking shocked, relieved, and angry at the same time. "That's the Whomping Willow! And they took that car! How could they be so stupid!"

Aang replied, "Maybe they couldn't get into the train station and found another way. I wouldn't be too mad if I were you."

Hermione turned away in time for "Davidson, Misty!" to be called. Cautiously, Misty got up and made her way over to the Sorting Hat, which she put on her head. She seemed to be praying about something under her breath, and it sounded like "Let me be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw". With a loud voice, the hat called, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuffs started cheering, and Team Avatar joined them. Once Misty reached the table, Toph playfully punched her shoulder and said, "Good to have you here, fellow tomboy! You ready to help Hufflepuff kick butt?"

"Yeah," Misty said with a smile, sharing a fist bump with her. "I'm ready."

Aang was happy that Toph got to have someone in Hufflepuff with her now...but what about Sokka? He was the only one of Team Avatar to be on his own now...though he looked fine with being in Ravenclaw on his own. But still, the Avatar hoped that Kori could be Sorted into that House. And if she was Sorted into Slytherin, that would be okay too.

Soon, there were a few people like "Greengrass, Daphne" and "Lovegood, Luna" who were each Sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively. Aang saw that Luna was actually the odd girl who had talked with Ginny and Misty on the train...so Sokka could have someone to hang out with now. And just when he was thinking of this, the moment of truth arrived.

"Morishita, Kori!"

Aang watched as the young EarthBender walked up to the Sorting Hat, her golden eyes clear yet a bit nervous. He remembered his own Sorting over a year ago, and he had wanted to be in Gryffindor not because of Slytherin, but it was because it felt right to him. During his thinking, he felt Katara nudge his shoulder and look towards Kori, so he looked up too.

And finally...after a few minutes' worth of thinking, the Sorting Hat said... "Oh, I know the place for you very well, child. Perhaps you can purify the bad reputation...SLYTHERIN!"

With a sigh of relief, Kori got up from the stool, put the Hat back where it was, and headed over to the Slytherin table. To Aang's disgust, however, most of the Slytherins glared at her in a distrusting way except for a few. Daphne Greengrass moved over to Kori and nodded her head to the spot next to her, inviting herself to sit down. Aang hoped that she would do well in Slytherin and manage to shake off the bad reputation it had.

Beside him as the Sorting went on, Katara and Hermione were cheering for Kori as the Yu Dao EarthBender sat down, yet Sokka and Toph were staring at her in surprise. But they seemed satisfied with their new friend's choice, for they nodded in approval with the others. Even Gin, who was sitting behind Aang, got up from his spot during the Sorting and padded over to Kori, licking her happily.

_I guess it was to pay her back for covering for him on the train, _Aang guessed with a smile. Perhaps the girl who opposed them in the Harmony Restoration Movement could become their friend this year.

The last person to be Sorted was Ginny Weasley, who was Sorted as a Gryffindor. The Weasleys, who were all Gryffindors, were all rooting for her...except for Percy Weasley, the third oldest one, who merely nodded and said short words of congrats to his sister. Once every first year was Sorted, McGonagall took the Sorting Hat away, and Dumbledore rose to his feet. This was the man who had entrusted Team Avatar to their mission, the silver-haired old man they could trust to keep a secret.

"To our first years, welcome to Hogwarts," he announced, his old voice clear and bright. "And to our old students, welcome back. Before we sink our teeth into this magnificent feast, I have a few things to say. The first is that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to every student from first to seventh years unless they are with a teacher. The second is that we welcome our newest Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher...please welcome Gilderoy Lockhart."

Most of the girls went wild at seeing the new teacher, and Lockhart was brashly flaunting his smile towards them. Aang looked to the side and was shocked to see Hermione staring eagerly over at him, yet Katara gave a huff at this and turned away from it all. In actual fact, she had turned around so that her face was a bit away from Aang's.

"I can't stand the sight of that guy," the WaterBender muttered. "I know we shouldn't do this in front of the others, but...can we kiss for just a few seconds?"

Aang nodded. "Sure. I don't like the looks of Lockhart either...he's too haughty. We can do it under the table if you want to."

"I don't see why we can't."

So they ducked under the table and locked their lips together, Aang smelling his Forever Girl's familiar sweet scent. In fact, he was so involved with continuing to taste her lips that he could barely hear Dumbledore continue talking. But when he heard something about "Harry and Ron", Aang broke the kiss and accidentally bumped his head to get up. Katara gave him a concerned look and rubbed his head to ease the pain, and he smiled to reassure her.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley have driven the car right into the Whomping Willow," Dumbledore was saying, to the gasps of many students and contemptuous chuckles from most Slytherins. "They survived, but the tree could be damaged, so Professor Sprout has offered to heal it right up. And as of right now, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are in Professor Snape's classroom and awaiting their punishments. I must be there to give them their punishments right now, but I advise you all to have a good feast. Tuck in."

"Hear hear!" Sokka and Toph called in reply.

But as the food appeared before their eyes, Aang stopped in the middle of getting some fruit and vegetables and looked to the side. Dumbledore knew about them hitting that tree...and he, the Avatar, had a vision about that. Did Dumbledore know about the vision...or did someone else hear about it and tell him? Yet he couldn't think about it now, for the others were starting to eat, and he didn't want to be the only one not to do so. So he packed up several boiled potatoes along with corn, lima beans, pear slices, and diced pineapples and began tucking in too just as the other members of Team Avatar came over to join them.

During dinner, word of Harry and Ron coming to Hogwarts by flying car began surging through the students. Aang slowed down in eating and listened to what they had to say.

"I can't believe they came across the Whomping Willow!" one of the Weasley Twins said with excitement in his eyes.

"Yeah, I gotta hand it to ya," Toph said with a bit of a smile on her face. "If I weren't blind, I'd love to see something like that."

_I'd like to see it too, _Aang thought for a reason.

That reason was because Hermione asked in a shrill voice, "How can you be happy about that? They could've been killed...or worse, expelled!"

The table was silent before Kori (who had ignored most of the Slytherins) asked, "How is getting expelled worse than getting killed?"

"I...I don't know," Hermione admitted. "But still...they shouldn't have tried it. They would have been seen by Muggles, which is what we're trying to avoid: showing Muggles magic unless if it becomes an emergency. Plus, they could get into big trouble if the Ministry tries to get to them first, and they could have waited and sent an owl to someone...but they didn't. So no, this is not something to be happy about."

Now thanks to this, the table looked a bit subdued. Even Sokka stared at her and said in a blasé way, "Wow...aren't you just a little ray of sunshine?"

Wanting to get off the subject, Aang spoke up, "So how was your summer, everyone?"

"Mine was good," Seamus Finnigan spoke up. "Me mum and I went to Spain for the summer, and it was nice there. It's like a European Mexico."

"Mexico?" Aang asked, tilting his head to one side. "What's that?"

Hermione, now looking a bit more relaxed, said, "It's on the other side of the world, and it's a desert country below the United States. But the country itself came to be when Spain gained control of it."

Kori nodded a bit. "Like Yu Dao, right?" Noticing their confused looks, she said, "It's where I live at...and it's now the only place in our world that has all four nations living together."

"Long story," Toph muttered to anyone listening.

As they talked on, the desserts had finally arrived, but Aang couldn't eat another bite. He made a small note to himself that he would start going through the hot squat training Zuko once put him through. So he decided to pack some brownies for later and was tempted to give one to Gin, but Neville said quickly that chocolate contained an ingredient that could kill a dog. Thus, Aang was thankful for the advice, knowing that Katara would never forgive him for accidentally poisoning her dog. And when Dumbledore came back and said a few more words, they left the Great Hall.

Momo, who had been on the staff table with the teachers, glided over to Aang and landed on his shoulder, sniffing at the desserts. Wondering if chocolate would be good for a lemur, he dug into his bag and held one out for his lemur. He was just giving Momo an ear-tickling when he saw Hermione hang back while Percy Weasley led the students over to Gryffindor Tower. Perhaps she had sensed something was wrong.

"I think Harry and Ron are back," she said after he had asked her what was worrying her. "And when I get my hands on those two..."

"You're still mad at them about that?" Aang asked in disbelief. "What if they got crushed...or even worse?"

Hermione sniffed. "Then...that means they should've found another way here instead of using that car!"

_I don't think that's it. You're worried for them, _Aang wanted to say. But he didn't want to get into any more trouble from her

The members of Team Avatar said their good-byes as Toph went for the Hufflepuffs, Sokka went with the Ravenclaws, and Kori joined the Slytherins to their dorms. Aang and Katara had just gotten up the last flight of stairs and entered the same hallway when Hermione suddenly called, "There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors...someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"

Aang and Katara looked up from their private talk to see Harry and Ron before them at last. The two boys were standing before the portrait of a fat lady in pink robes.

"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry said in a reassuring way.

"You're not telling me you _did_ fly here?" Hermione asked in a disapproving way.

Ron sighed. "Skip the lecture and tell us the new password."

Hermione sighed too. "It's 'wattlebird', and that's not the point..."

But whatever she had to say, she didn't get to say it, because the portrait had swung open to let them in. It looked like the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, and waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione and the couple to scramble in after them.

_Wow, _Aang thought, sharing a smile with Katara. _How do the Gryffindors get this party fixed so fast? And we barely got to leave the Great Hall!_

As if reading his mind, Katara gave him a shrug as if to say, _Who knows? I think they're quite the party animals._

"Brilliant!" Lee Jordan yelled excitedly. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow! People'll be talking about that one for years!"

"Good for you," an unfamiliar person added.

Just then, Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"

"Maybe because you're too excellently gifted at pranking?" Aang greeted them helpfully.

"Eh...he's got us there," Fred told George. With a smile now on their faces, he added "And I thought we were the best pranksters!"

Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Aang saw one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off. He also saw Hermione giving them a look of deep disapproval and recalled what she had said during the feast. The Avatar knew she wanted to look after them, but if she started acting like a stick-in-the-mud...

"How about we go to bed for the night?" Katara suggested, seeing the look on his face. "We have enough time to celebrate...unless if we got classes. Those come first."

Aang smiled at her and said, "I know...and I AM feeling a bit tired." So he kissed her cheek and said, "I'm gonna retire for the night. Love you, sweetheart."

Katara kissed him back. "Love you too, sweetie. Good-night."

So Aang went up the spiral staircase up to the boys' dorm, Momo following him with a bag of peanuts in his mouth. He hurried up to the top and at last reached the door of his old dorm, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. He and Momo entered the familiar circular room, with its six four-posters hung with red velvet and its high narrow windows. His luggage had been brought up for him and stood at the end of his bed...same with the other boys.

After he got dressed for the night, Ron had come up with Harry, saying, "I know I shouldn't have enjoyed that or anything, but..." Noticing Aang watching them, he added, "Sorry. Thought you'd..."

"Give you a lecture?" Aang finished for him. Harry and Ron nodded, so he added, "No, I'm not gonna scold you for that. Hermione was planning to, but I think crashing into the tree was enough punishment. But still...you gotta tell me the details tomorrow."

"Sure," Harry said, smiling.

Later that night...

Gin stretched out his legs after a dream of chasing after singing groundhogs. Letting out a yawn, he leapt off the foot of the bed and looked back at Katara, who was still asleep with a lock of hair over her face. Since his owner was asleep, Gin could have a drink from the drain near the closest window and not wake anyone up. So he carefully padded over to the window, opened it up a bit, and lapped at the water in the drain, grateful to have any water.

Suddenly, a group of shadows caught Gin's attention, making him wonder what was up. The shadows slightly looked like they were dogs or wolves chasing a huge wild boar near the forest, barking and baying into the night. With a big leap, the biggest of the three dogs pounced and latched itself onto the boar's throat, making it squeal as the others joined their packmate into bringing it down. The boar was dead, and the wild canines began their nightly meal.

Gin was shocked at how there were wild dogs at Hogwarts, undetected by the human eye. What was more amazing was their teamwork; he knew one dog alone couldn't take down large prey by himself or herself. Still he felt rather tired, so the silver-pelted dog staggered away from the window, feeling like his paws could slip from beneath him.

_Who are those wild dogs? _Gin thought as he got back to the bed and curled up at the foot of it. _And what're they doing here?_

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Well, this chapter's done! And for you Ginga fans...yep, I said there's gonna be more Ginga dogs, and here they were. I'll let you find out who they are, but I'll give you a hint: their names have something to do with tigers. And I hope you all liked the decision of what House Kori goes into.  
**

**But still, I wish I hadn't put off this chapter for too long; I just had some other stuff to do with the other stories. I'm still working on the Kataang Island Adventure sequel and the Makorra Tribe Adventure story, but I also got a few others to work on ASAP. But let's go to the review thing and the preview for First Day Back (Gilderoy Lockhart).**

**Read and review! Anyone who does can send their ideas for Book 2 bloopers for my Avatar Bloopers story. I do not allow any flames, but I allow advice, questions of any kind, and even constructive criticism. As long as it's not harsh, though.**

**Preview: The first day back at Hogwarts...doesn't go well. Howlers, incompetent teachers, and malicious rivals and their guard dog threaten to spoil the day. Can Team Avatar and the Golden Trio survive through it?**

**See ya next time!**


	7. The First Day Back

**AvatarCat13: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to a new chapter of Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! Sorry I haven't uploaded any stories in a few days, but I'm working on it. But before we go on, I'd like to say a little something first.**

**To tell you guys the truth, out of all the members of the Golden Trio, Hermione is my least favorite. It's not that I hate her, not at all; it's just...she can be a bit bossy sometimes, you know? And even though Malfoy redeems himself later (sorta...if you've read the last book of Harry Potter), he was a big ol' prick (sorry about the language). But hey, both Harry Potter and ATLA are about character development, right?**

**So anyways...here's the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned ATLA (Avatar: The Last AirBender) or Harry Potter, I'd own one of the big fancy houses you'd see in videos of The Sims 3. But I don't...and thank God! They belong to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling.**

**Summary: The first day back at Hogwarts...doesn't go well. Howlers, useless teachers, and malicious rivals and their guard dog threaten to spoil the day. Can Team Avatar and the Golden Trio survive through it?**

**Uploading Date: June 16, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**The First Day Back**_

The next day, however, Kori felt like things could get worse for Harry. She was a bit worried for him and happy that he pulled off an amazing feat like that...but she felt like good things couldn't last forever. So the Yu Dao EarthBender slipped ahead of the other Slytherins and made her way along to the Great Hall.

The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of fish, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the (today, a dull, cloudy gray) sky. She then saw Team Avatar, Harry, and Ron sit down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, who had a book called Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug. There was a slight stiffness in the way she greeted them, which indicated that she was still disapproving of how they had arrived. Kori wasn't sure if she would like this person.

Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, greeted them cheerfully. This was a round-faced and accident-prone boy with a pretty poor memory, and Kori had heard Sokka talk with him as if they were childhood friends.

"Mail's due any minute," Neville was saying. "I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."

Kori had just gotten to the knot of Gryffindors (and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) when there was a rushing sound overhead, and a hundred or so owls flowed in, circling the hall and dropping stuff into the chattering crowd. A big lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something big and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.

"Errol!" Ron gasped, pulling the messy great gray owl out by the feet. The elderly owl slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak. But when Ron saw the letter, he gasped, "Oh no..."

"It's all right; he's still alive," Hermione said, prodding Errol gently with her finger.

"Maybe you can let him rest," Aang suggested.

"Not that..._that_."

Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Kori, Harry, and Team Avatar, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as if it would explode.

"A letter?" Kori asked, an eyebrow raised. "You're scared of a red letter?"

Ron gulped. "She's...sent me a Howler."

"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville said in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and..." He gulped. "...it was horrible."

Harry looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope. "What's a Howler?" he asked.

"You don't mean a howler poodle monkey?" Toph asked with a chuckle.

"No...just Howler."

Toph was silent before finally saying, "This place...is weird."

But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners. Neville urged, "Open it. It'll all be over in a few minutes..."

So Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open as Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Kori thought for a moment that it _had_ exploded; a roar filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.

"RONALD WEASLEY, HOW DARE YOU STEAL THE CAR?! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU! I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE!"

The yells made the plates and spoons rattle on the table and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were turning around to see who got the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his forehead could be seen. Noticing this, Sokka and Katara patted him on the shoulders.

"WE GOT THE LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT! I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME! WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS! YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED!" The letter didn't pause to take a breath, for it went on, "I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT, AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

A ringing silence fell. Then Delia's soft voice came out of the letter as it said, "And Ginny and Misty, if you're hearing this, congrats on being in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. We're all so proud of you two!"

At this, the red envelope dropped down, burst into flames, and curled into ashes. A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again. Kori still couldn't believe all the magic she had heard about; she though Fire Lord Zuko was lying, for her family had been supporters of his father Ozai, but she now saw it before her eyes.

In the meantime, Hermione closed her book and looked down at the top of Ron's head, saying rather pompously, "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you-"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron.

"He's right," Sokka said right away, his voice serious now. "Now's not the time for the gloating, the 'nya-nya-nya-nya-nya-nya, you got in trouble' stuff, and all of the superior stuff now. Just drop it."

Kori nodded in agreement. _Yes, what they did was kind of wrong, but I think almost being beaten to death by that tree is punishment enough._

But she had no time to dwell on this; Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor, was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Kori took hers and saw that Slytherin had double Charms with the Ravenclaws first.

But then... "Professor!" Aang called for McGonagall as she walked on. "Can Kori come with us to our classes as well if the Slytherins don't join us?"

McGonagall looked a bit thoughtful as she said, "I don't know...but I shall speak to the headmaster if he can tweak the rule again."

"Thanks," Aang told her with a smile. Turning back, he told Kori, "Now you can come to our classes with us!"

"That's great," Kori said, smiling too. But her smile faded as she asked, "But is it really allowed here at Hogwarts?"

"Dumbledore let Sokka and Toph have the same classes as Aang and I," Katara explained. "So it'll be fine."

Kori beamed again. "Thanks."

So the eight of them left the castle together, crossed over the vegetable patch, and went to the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. At least the Howler had done one good thing: Hermione seemed to think Harry and Ron had now been punished enough and was being perfectly friendly again, which made Kori roll her eyes.

As they neared the greenhouses, they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout, whom was said to be the teacher. They had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and Kori spotted the gigantic Whomping Willow in the distance, several of its branches now in slings.

Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her unruly hair; there was a large amount of earth on her clothes, and her fingernails would have made her parents faint. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was spotless in robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly placed turquoise hat with gold trimming.

"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels."

Kori didn't like the way he spoke about the subject. Perhaps Sprout didn't like him either, for she called "Greenhouse three today, chaps!" while looking clearly disgruntled.

There was a murmur of interest, and Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Kori caught an odor of damp earth and fertilizer mixing with the heavy perfume of big umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. But as she began heading into the room, she saw a hand shoot out and the owner say, "Harry! I've been wanting a word! You don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"

Judging by Sprout's scowl, she did mind. But Lockhart said, "That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face anyways. Not trusting this man at all, Kori hung around at the doorway to hear what was going on.

"Harry," Lockhart said, his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight as he shook his head. "Harry, Harry, Harry...when I heard...well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked myself." Harry was going to talk on when Lockhart went on, "Don't know when I've been more shocked. Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile. Harry, Harry, Harry."

_Strange how he could show every tooth even when he's not talking,_ Kori thought.

But Kori's worst fears were confirmed when Lockhart said slyly, "Gave you a taste for publicity, didn't I? Gave you the bug. You got onto the front page of the paper with me, and you couldn't wait to do it again."

"Oh, no, Professor, see..."

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Lockhart interrupted again, holding his shoulder. "I understand. Natural to want a bit more once you've had that first taste. And I blame myself for giving you that, because it was bound to go to your head. But see here, young man, you can't start flying cars to try and get yourself noticed. Just calm down, all right? Plenty of time for all that when you're older. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking! 'It's all right for him, he's an internationally famous wizard already!' But when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now."

Kori snorted. _Harry Potter a nobody? I'll believe that when chicken pigs fly._

Lockhart just babbled on, "In fact, I'd say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "I know, I know...it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, as I have...but it's a start, Harry. It's a start."

He gave Harry a hearty wink and strode off. Kori glared after the Professor, unable to believe what she was hearing. Did Lockhart think losing his parents and becoming famous was all that exciting? She had heard Aang had lost all of his family and friends in the Air Nomads when Fire Lord Sozin wiped them out, yet the Avatar wasn't happy about it. Noticing Harry still standing there, the EarthBender walked over to him and steered him inside.

Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse, nearly thirty pairs of ear muffs were lying on the bench. When Harry had taken his place between Ron and Hermione and Kori sat in between Sokka and Toph, Sprout announced, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Hermione's hand was first into the air. "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," she said, sounding as usual as if she had swallowed a textbook. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," Sprout said. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand narrowly missed Harry's glasses as it shot up again. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said promptly.

Sprout nodded. "Precisely. Take another ten points. Now the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke on, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufted little plants, purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. They looked quite unremarkable, and Kori (and neither person in Team Avatar) had no idea what Hermione meant by the "cry" of the Mandrake.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," Sprout said as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right, earmuffs on."

So Kori snapped the earmuffs over her ears, and they shut out sound completely. Sprout put the pink fluffy pair over her ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard. And once the leaves were pulled up all the way, Kori let out a gasp of surprise that no one could hear.

Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and very ugly baby popped out of the earth, the leaves growing out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. Aang was looking really nauseated at this sight while Toph looked indifferent due to not being able to see anything. In the meantime, Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark compost until only the leaves were visible. Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs...and as the others did the same, Sokka fainted.

"I believe Mr. Sokka couldn't take the silence," Sprout said with a minor sympathetic look.

Katara looked down at her fainted brother before looking back up. "He just fainted, ma'am."

Sprout nodded calmly. "Oh...well, leave him there until after class. As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Four to a tray; there is a large supply of pots here. Compost in the sacks over there...and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula; it's teething."

At this, she gave a sharp slap to a spiky dark red plant, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were joined at their tray by a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy they had never spoken to. In the meantime, Team Avatar got together to talk while they worked, joined by Misty Davidson shortly.

"So how're you enjoying being in Slytherin, Kori?" Aang asked. "Do they treat you right?"

Kori nodded. "Most of them like Malfoy and Parkinson are jerks, but a few are okay. In fact, I got to be friends quickly with that Greengrass girl from last night's Sorting. She knows I'm part Earth Kingdom and part Fire Nation, and she promised not to tell the other Slytherins. Right now, they seem really discriminatory."

Aang nodded. "Yeah, I agree. They tried to make Katara and I split up because of us being in different nations."

"Now trying to do THAT is wrong," Kori agreed.

"And Misty, how're you doing in Hufflepuff?" Katara asked said girl.

"It's great so far!" Misty said, her eyes shining. "A few of them are too pompous, though, but there's this really cool guy who helped me around. His name's Cedric Diggory, and he's basically the nicest person in Hogwarts."

Sokka, who had revived, quickly held up a hand and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa there. Isn't he that guy who tried gettin' them to stop picking on Harry last year?"

"I guess so," Toph said.

Sokka muttered "Sounds like a good guy" as Misty asked, "What? They were mean to him?"

At that, Toph said, "Long story. You'll find out later."

After that, they didn't have much chance to talk. They put the earmuffs back on, and they had to focus on the Mandrakes. Sprout had made it look easy, but it was no walk in the park, let me tell you. The Mandrakes didn't like coming out of the earth, but they didn't seem to want to go back into it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and bit. Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot, and Sokka had teased one by poking it, making it bite his finger.

By the end of the class, everyone was sweaty, aching, and covered in earth. They plodded back to the castle for a quick wash, and then the Gryffindors (along with Sokka, Toph, and Kori) hurried off to Transfiguration.

Kori found out quickly that Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, but today was especially difficult. They were supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but all she managed to do was give the beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the desktop avoiding her wand, which was nine inches long, made of dragon heartstring and oak, and firm.

"It's not even a difficult spell," Hermione kept saying. "You should've studied..."

"I KNOW," Aang said with a huff. "But Avatar duties keep distracting me."

Kori nodded. "I gotta agree. It can be hard being the Avatar," she added in a snarky voice.

But Aang appeared to have understood sarcasm, for he retorted, "I heard that."

Ron was having worse problems. He had patched up his wand with some borrowed magic tape, but it seemed to be damaged so much that it couldn't be fixed. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle, it swamped him in thick gray smoke that smelled like rotten pig chicken eggs. Unable to see what he was doing, Ron had accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one.

Everyone was relieved to hear the lunch bell, and Kori felt like her brain would burst from all the magic she had to learn. Everyone filed out of the classroom except her, Harry, and Ron, who was whacking his wand furiously on the desk. "Stupid...useless...thing!" he muttered.

"Write home for another one," Harry suggested as the wand let off a torrent of bangs.

"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back," Ron growled, stuffing the now hissing wand into his bag. "Mum would say 'It's your own fault your wand got snapped!'"

"Would she really?" Kori asked.

Ron shrugged. "Possibly. You should see what she's like."

They went down to lunch, where Ron's mood was not improved by Hermione's showing them the handful of perfect coat buttons she had produced in Transfiguration. Now Kori was sure she did not like Hermione; she seemed smart, all right, but she also always seemed to show it off.

"What've we got this afternoon?" Harry asked, thankfully and hastily changing the subject.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said at once.

At this, Ron seized her schedule and looked over it. He looked back up and demanded, "Why have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously. This made Sokka snicker, "Looks like someone's in love today." But that was met by glares, which made him shrink away a bit and mutter, "Okay, okay! It was just a joke! What's it take to make a joke around here?"

**...**

They all finished lunch and went outside into the overcast courtyard. Hermione sat down on a stone step and buried her nose in Voyages with Vampires again while Harry and Ron stood talking about Quidditch for some time. Sokka was looking over books he brought over from the Avatar world, Toph was lying back against a rock and twirling a pebble around her hand, and Aang and Katara were leaning against each other, scratching a recently-arrived Gin behind the ears as Appa (who had already arrived at Hogwarts) flew above them.

Kori, in the meantime, became aware that they were being closely watched. Looking up, she looked to the bushes and saw the small mousy-haired boy with the tool called a "camera", staring at Harry as if transfixed. Kori wondered what was up with him.

"All right, Harry? I'm...I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too," he said breathlessly, taking a shy step forward. He raised his camera hopefull and asked, "Do you think...would it be all right if...can I have a picture?"

"A picture?" Harry repeated blankly.

Katara asked the boy kindly, "Why do you need his picture?"

Colin answered Harry, edging further forth, "So I can prove I've met you. I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead, and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures will move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you..." He looked imploringly at Harry. "...maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then...could you sign it?"

Harry was going to say something when Kori heard a familiar and unpleasant voice sneer, "_Signed photos?_ You're giving out _signed photos_, Potter?"

Loud and scornful, Draco Malfoy's voice echoed around the courtyard as he stopped right behind Colin, flanked by his large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Beside them was Sniper, Malfoy's pet dog, who was glaring around at them with a rather steely gaze for a dog.

"Everyone line up!" Draco yelled to the crowd with a very horrible sneer on his face. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"No I'm not," Harry snapped angrily, his fists clenching. "Shut up, Malfoy."

Aang, turning around as soon as Gin growled, added, "Just go away, Draco. Why can't you leave us alone?"

"You're just jealous," Colin piped up, his entire body about as thick as Crabbe's neck.

Draco scoffed, "Jealous? Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special myself."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled stupidly.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," Ron snapped angrily as Crabbe stopped laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way.

"Be careful, Weasley," Malfoy sneered, turning to him. "You don't want to start any trouble or your Mommy'll have to come and take you away from school. 'If you put another toe out of line...'" he said in a shrill voice.

A collection of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this, but Kori noticed a few who were not laughing. She didn't laugh either, for she felt anger towards the bullies; they seemed to care more about walking over people than working with them.

Noticing how he had gotten onto Ron's nerves, Malfoy turned to Harry, jeering, "Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter, It'd be worth more than his family's whole house."

"Doesn't this kid come up with anything new?" Kori heard Sokka mutter as Ron pulled out his taped wand.

But then...Hermione shut Voyages with Vampires with a snap and whispered, "Look out!"

"What's all this, what's all this?" Lockhart was striding to them, turquoise robes swirling behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Harry was about to speak, but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered heartily, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"

Pinned to Lockhart's side and burning with shame, Harry groaned as Malfoy sneaked, sneering, back into the crowd, but Kori frowned. It was going to get even harder to get Slytherin to get along with the other students. And to rub salt into the wounds, Sniper leaned over and nipped Gin hard on the shoulder, making him yelp before slinking back into the crowd.

"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," Lockhart said, beaming. "A double portrait, can't do better than that, and we'll both sign it for you." But as Aang was about to pull Harry away, he was pulled forward until he too was frowning with humiliation as Lockhart said, "Nothing wrong with three in one picture, is there?"

Colin fumbled for his camera and took the picture as the bell rang behind them, signaling the start of afternoon classes. The crowd went back for the castle, and Lockhart set off back to the castle with Harry while Aang sped off right away, just enough to let Kori hear the hypocrisy.

"A word to the wise, Harry," Lockhart was saying paternally as they entered the building through a side door. "I covered up for you back there with young Creevey; if he was photographing me, too, your schoolmates won't think you're setting yourself up so much." They went down a hall lined with staring students and up a staircase as he went on, "Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at this stage of your career isn't sensible...looks a tad bigheaded, Harry, to be frank. There may well come a time when, like me, you'll need to keep a stack handy wherever you go, but..." He gave a little chortle. "I don't think you're quite there yet."

They reached Lockhart's classroom, and he let Harry go at last. Harry yanked his robes straight and headed for a seat at the very back of the class, where he piled all seven of Lockhart's books in front of him to avoid looking at the real thing. The rest of the class came clattering in, and Ron and Hermione sat down on either side of Harry. Kori sat in between Sokka and Katara as Team Avatar sat behind them.

"You could've fried an egg on your face" Ron was saying. "You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club."

Toph laughed with him, "Yeah. Where can I sign up to join the Harry Potter fan club?

"Shut up," Harry snapped.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly, and everyone got quiet. He reached forward, picked up Neville's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.

"Allow me to welcome our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher...me," he said, pointing at it and winking too. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh, but a few people smiled weakly.

Lockhart went on, "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books. Well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about; just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in..." When he had handed out the test papers, he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes. Start...now!"

Kori looked down at her paper and read:

_1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_

_2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

Kori read it in disgust, and Katara was giving Sokka a look that meant _What the heck is this? _On and on it went, over three sides of paper and right down to:

_54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class. He said, "Tut, tut...hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully; I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and nonmagic peoples...though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!" he chortled with another roguish wink.

Ron and Sokka were now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on their faces, Harry, Aang, and Katara were glaring at him in disgust, and Toph, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas were shaking with silent laughter. Hermione, in contrast, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and jumped a bit when he mentioned her name.

"...but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions. Good girl! In fact..." He flipped her paper over. "...full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.

Lockhart smiled. "Excellent! Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so...down to business," He went behind his desk and lifted a large covered cage onto it. "Now be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Kori rolled her eyes, not wanting time for this nonsense, but she decided to take a better look at the cage anyways. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover, and Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now while Neville was cowering in his front row seat. Aang was looking towards the cage, looking eager to see what creature it was.

"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice, starting to whip off the cover. "It might provoke them. Yes...freshly caught Cornish pixies!"

And he lifted off the cover. Said pixies were vivid blue and about eight inches high with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to sparrowkeets arguing. The moment the cover was removed, they started chattering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making strange faces at the people near them.

Just then, Seamus couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror. "Cornish pixies? Well, they're not...they're not very, you know...dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.

Lockhart waved an annoying finger at him. "Don't be so sure! Devilish tricky little blighters, they can be! Now let's see what you make of them!"

And then...he opened the cage.

It was chaos as the pixies shot in every direction like fireworks. Two seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air to the iron chandelier in the ceiling. Several shot through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging Komodo rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, cut up books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, tipped over trash cans, and grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window. In minutes, half the class was now sheltering under desks, and poor Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier.

"Come on now! Round them up, round them up! They're only pixies," Lockhart shouted.

"Hard to do so since you didn't teach us how to handle 'em!" Toph shouted. Kori knew she was upset because she couldn't strike a flying opponent with her EarthBending.

So Lockhart rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

It didn't affect the pixies; one even seized his wand and threw it out of the window too, making Kori smile at this. Lockhart gulped and dove under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. As Neville fell to the floor, Katara managed to catch him in time, asking if he was okay in a motherly tone. Just then, the bell rang, and there was a rush for the exit.

"Well, I'll ask you eight to just nip the rest of them back into their cage," Lockhart said to Team Avatar and the Golden Trio as he swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.

So they got to work, but it was no easy task, not at all. The pixies were still causing chaos, so they had to find ways to halt them in their tracks. Aang and Katara used WaterBending to freeze some of them, Toph and Kori knocked them out with borrowed EarthBended earth from the castle, and Hermione used Freezing charms. Harry, Ron, and Sokka had to use books and other stuff, though, due to not dealing with this kind of thing.

"Can you believe him?" Ron roared as one pixie bit him painfully on the ear.

Aang panted from the hard work. "Yeah...I thought he'd be okay...but come on! I can't believe he left us with the hard work! Not that it's hard, though," he added, catching a raised eyebrow look from his girlfriend.

"It's fine," Kori told Katara. "I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking in hiring him."

Hermione froze two pixies at one with a Freezing charm and stuffed them back into their face. "He just wants to give us some hands-on experience."

"Hands on?" Harry repeated, trying to grab a pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out. "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing!"

Sokka whacked one pixie across the face with a book and added, "No kidding! I know plenty of stuff about goofing up, but he just ruined the whole thing."

"Rubbish," Hermione said. "You've read his books. Look at all those amazing things he's done!"

"He _says_ he's done," Ron retorted, hitting a pixie Aang tossed to him with AirBending.

And while all of this went on, Neville, who was left behind, asked in an exasperated voice, "Why is it always me?"

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: Well, there we go. This is the end of the chapter where the annoying stuff is at an end for now. And yes, I don't like Lockhart. Yeah, I said "don't like", not hate. He's not evil...but he's so freakin' annoying! So there are several kinds of people in fiction: love to death, like, feel neutral, don't like, and LOATHE ENTIRELY!**

**Anyways, our friend Canada Cowboy (on FanFiction) had finally graduated from law school, and boy, I wish you had been there...and so would I. Yep, he's happy about it, and I'm happy to hear a friend graduating. He and I have had a nasty start before, but it's all over, and he's one of the best guys I've had the pleasure to talk with. So give it up for Canada Cowboy...or should I say...Canada Cowboy, Juris Doctor!**

**So read and review! Anyone who reviews gets a Pikachu plush doll with a white shirt and a red maple leaf to honor Canada Cowboy. I don't allow flames, but I welcome questions, advice, and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh. And here's the preview for Mudbloods, Murmurs, and Mischief.**

**Summary: Toph decides to enjoy a walk around the castle with Momo, talking about their adventures so far. But a fight at the Quidditch field makes things even worse as Malfoy introduces an ugly word to Hermione and Team Avatar. And as if that wasn't enough, at the end of this chapter, someone sets a person up for impending chaos.**

**See ya next time!**


	8. Mudbloods And Mischief

**AvatarCat13: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to another chapter of Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets. There'll be a misadventure or two before the real thing kicks in, and that'll be...of course...the subject of the title.**

**I've been doing some thinking, and...I often think a lot...I feel like trying to complete some achievements on World Of Warcraft. It's the Midsummer Fire Festival, and you can honor your faction's flames while dousing the other's flames. Plus, you get plenty of money and fire blossoms from it, but once my playtime for it is used up, I'll get back to uploading some FanFiction stories.**

**And one more thing: my sister's having her baby next week today. Well, now that that's done, let's get the show on the road.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last AirBender and Harry Potter. They belong to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling. And plus, I don't plan on making any money with this FanFic...AT ALL.**

**Summary: ****Toph decides to enjoy a walk around the castle with Momo, talking about their adventures so far. But a fight at the Quidditch field makes things even worse as Malfoy introduces an ugly word to Hermione and Team Avatar. And as if that wasn't enough, at the end of this chapter, someone sets a person up for impending chaos.**

**Uploading Date: June 26, 2013**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**Mudbloods And Mischief**_

The weekend had arrived, and Toph couldn't have been happier. Learning from Lockhart was enough to make her brain rot, and she had never met such an incompetent person before. Not only that, but Malfoy and Parkinson kept creeping around, trying hard to force Aang and Katara to break up due to being born in different nations. Thankfully, thanks to the lessons she took from Iroh, she had calmed down a bit and threatened to report them to a teacher.

The blind EarthBender walked down the halls to breakfast, a small black-&-tan long-bodied dog marching behind her. It was Saturday, and she and Misty had decided to walk around Hogwarts so that Toph could show the latter around the castle; that was why she became a dog known as a dachshund. Toph was carrying both bags on her shoulders, and when no one was looking, the dog started to morph and grow until she became the girl they had gotten to know earlier.

And during breakfast, she felt the footsteps of Team Avatar and the Golden Trio and realized that Harry wasn't with them. She guessed that, since it was near the Quidditch season (a sport that consisted to flying balls and brooms), Harry was pulled away from training.

"Where's Harry at?" Sokka asked, joining the Gryffindors at their table. "And Aang?"

"Yeah," Toph added as she sat down. "Haven't seen them since the sun came up."

"Knowing the time of year, it must be Quidditch practice," Ron said. "Like I said before, it's a really amazing sport."

Toph recalled Aang becoming part of Gryffindor's Quidditch team as a protector for the seeker of the team. His goal was to guard the seeker personally from other players and Bludgers, nasty black balls which could cause serious damage to a person. And the seeker's job was to catch a tiny golden ball to earn big points, but she couldn't care about that too much. She was blind, so she couldn't see a Quidditch match.

Hermione spoke up with a sigh, "You always say that, Ron. But they probably hadn't taken any breakfast with them to practice. Maybe we should take them something."

"For once, I agree with you," Kori added. "But we should take them something warm. It's bound to be chilly out there."

"What do you mean by for once?" Katara asked curiously. "Just being curious."

Kori leaned over and whispered into her ear, "No offense...but she seems kinda overbearing. Don't tell her I told you that."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Top asked, swiping some food into a bag and getting up from her seat. "Let's get going."

So they all got up and headed towards the main hall and out the doors to the school grounds. It was true that the air was chilly, making Toph regret not wearing any warmer clothes for the time being since she often walked around barefoot. But even in this chilled state, she could remember where the Quidditch field was, so she led the group through the dew-stained grass until they heard voices; those were probably the Gryffindors practicing Quidditch.

Toph was thankful she had packed some warm food in the bag she carried, for there were offcuts of mist hanging over the grass in the stadium. She had packed some fish, bread, jam, and even some pumpkin juice just for the occasion. She heard footsteps as Harry and Aang walked onto the field, and they ended up sitting in the stands.

"Aren't you finished yet?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Haven't even started," Harry replied. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

Aang gratefully took a piece of bread as he added, "Yeah, he woke us up at the crack of dawn without warning. I thought he'd have to wake us up with loud noises if we didn't."

"Well, be careful out there," Katara told them both, and Toph heard her kiss Aang's cheek. "Be sure to stay as warm as you can. And don't let Wood's instructions be the death of you yet," she added for a small joke.

So Harry and Aang mounted their broom and glider respectively and kicked off at the ground, soaring up into the air. Toph felt the cool morning air whip her face, making her shudder as they left. But as she huddled closer to Sokka for warmth, she heard a strange clicking noise.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" Toph asked, looking around.

"I think I know the answer," Kori replied. "Everyone except Toph look to the side."

Toph rolled her eyes, but she didn't need to see to know what went on. The young boy named Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised as he started taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium. "Look this way, Harry! This way!" he was calling shrilly.

"What...is he doing?" Sokka asked in confusion.

Ron shrugged. "No idea. It's going to distract Harry and Aang, let me tell you."

"What's going on?" Wood was calling as he skimmed through the air toward them. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."

"He's in Gryffindor," Harry said quickly.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because they're here in person."

Toph knew what was up right away and felt their footsteps: several people (around seven) walking onto the field. She heard their slight snickering and jeering comments towards the Gryffindors; plus, none of the players were female.

"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!" After landing with the rest of the team, he barked, "Flint! This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Marcus Flint of Slytherin sneered smugly.

Wood spat with outrage, "But I booked the field! I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker'."

Toph felt his stance right away with her seismic EarthBending, trying to see if he was telling the truth. She heard her friends mutter stuff like "I bet Snape didn't book the field" or "Flint's lying; I know he is". To her mild amazement, it sounded like he was telling the truth.

"You've got a new Seeker?" Wood asked in disbelief. "Where?"

At first, they had no idea who it was. But then, Toph heard one of the twins ask in dislike, "Say, aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint snickered with relish. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team. Very latest model, they are. Only came out last month. I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps..." his voice got more cruel. "...sweeps the board with them."

Beside Toph, Sokka was saying, "Looks like there's a field invasion. Let's check it out."

So all of them got up and headed over towards the two teams staring each other down. Just then, Flint spoke up, "Oh look. A field invasion."

_Okay...that was ironic._

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing?" Ron was asking. Supposedly talking about Malfoy, he asked, "And what's he doing here?"

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Malfoy said smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team. Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter. Kori (who was also a Slytherin) wasn't laughing, making Malfoy ask, "Why aren't you laughing, Morishita? Don't you think it's funny?"

"Actually, it's not," Kori snapped, her voice cold. "And neither are you."

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," Hermione spoke up sharply, interrupting their jeering laughter. "They got in on pure talent."

"Yeah," Katara added, standing beside her. "And I wish you could come up with something better than saying how poor the Weasleys are. Your family must have raised you wrong for you to think of stuff like this. If you can't accept that...it sucks to be you."

The Slytherin team stopped their jeering as Malfoy spat at them in contempt, "No one asked your opinions, you filthy little Mudbloods."

Right away, Toph knew that Malfoy had said something really wicked, for there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint got in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Even Sokka got into the brawl, eager to fight off some thugs.

A loud bang echoed around the stadium and Ron was hit in the stomach and sent reeling back onto the grass. Right away, they all gathered around him, worry bouncing off the Gryffindors, Team Avatar, and Kori.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

There was a rumbling noise coming from within him, making Aang say urgently, "Come on, Ron! Say something!"

Then Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he gave a belch, and something slimy dribbled out of his mouth and onto Toph's feet, making her jump away with a hiss. The Slytherin team was paralyzed with cruel laughter, Flint was doubled up and hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was banging the ground with his fist. Toph glared up at the Slytherins, angry at their lack of comradeship since a student got attacked, and the Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching slugs.

"We better get him to Hagrid's. It's nearest," Harry told Hermione as they pulled Ron up.

"Yeah," Katara added, shielding them from the others and using WaterBending to clear the stuff away. "If there's anyone who can sort this out, it's Hagrid."

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron threw up more slugs, and Colin exclaimed, "Oooh! Can you hold him still, Harry?"

At this, Sokka snarled, "Are you seriously kidding me, kid? Would you call throwing up slugs fascinating? You might like to see it, but I call it sick and shameful!"

Harry added, "He's right, now get out of the way, Colin!"

Together, Team Avatar, Harry, and Hermione supported Ron out of the stadium and across the grounds toward the edge of the forest. On their way there, Hermione was saying, "Nearly there, Ron. You'll be all right in a minute...almost there..."

They were just near Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing lavender robes today, came striding out.

Harry gave a hiss to hide, dragging Ron behind a nearby bush as Team Avatar joined the two of them. Hermione followed, somewhat reluctantly...but when she tried staying out longer, Toph and Kori grabbed her by the hem of her robes and pulled her into the bush.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying quite loudly. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one; I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!" And he strode away toward the castle.

Once Lockhart was away, they all pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid's front door, knocking urgently. Toph had felt that she wouldn't like this Lockhart guy, and due to leaving them alone with flying creatures she couldn't feel,

Hagrid appeared at once, looking very sullen, but his face brightened when he saw them. "Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me, kids," he grunted with a warm smile. "Come in, come in...thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again."

They supported Ron over the threshold into the one-room cabin, which had a huge bed in one corner, a fire crackling gaily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem worried by Ron's slug problem, which Harry and Aang hastily explained as they lowered Ron into a chair.

"Better out than in," he said cheerfully, putting a large copper basin down in front of him. "Get 'em all up, Ron."

So Ron began coughing up slugs. Sokka, Katara, and Kori looked nauseated at this, Aang turned away to not see it anymore, and Toph just looked around calmly, unbothered by it all. Hermione said anxiously, "I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop. That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand..."

"Harry asked if Ron could just ask his mom for another wand," Aang added. "But he said she'd say that it was his own fault it snapped."

"And it was-" But Hermione stopped as Sokka gave her a "not now" look.

Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His boarhound, Fang, was slobbering over Harry while Gin (whose pawsteps were lighter) jumped up into Toph's lap, making her wince a bit at his weight, but of course, she had lifted worse. She made sure to scratch his ears, and he was already wagging his curly tail in contentment.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," Hagrid growled. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

Toph raised an eyebrow but then smiled; it was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts' teacher, but it was nice of him to put down Lockhart like that. Hermione, however, said in a voice somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job..."

"He was the _on'y_ man for the job," Hagrid responded, offering them a plate of fudge while Ron coughed into his basin. "An' I mean the _on'y_ one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," he added, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Hermione something...and he said it to Katara also," Harry answered. "It must've been really bad, because everyone went wild."

Then Ron emerged over the tabletop, looking pale and sweaty, as he rasped, "It _was_ bad. Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid...and he called Katara and Sokka that too..." But then he dove out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs made their appearance.

Hagrid looked outraged and growled, "He didn't!"

"He did," Hermione said, her heart pulse confused. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course."

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," Ron gasped, coming back up. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born...you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards (like Malfoy's family) who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood." He gave a small burp and continued, "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom; he's pure-blood, and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

However, Kori frowned at him. "It's not his fault, Ron."

Ron nodded weakly. "I know."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," Hagrid added proudly, making said girl blush hard. "And Katara and Sokka...yeh two amaze me ev'ry day with yer WaterBendin' and smart minds. And yeh three..." he went on with a small smile. "Don't yeh think about it. Don't yeh think about it for a _minute._"

Ron gasped, "Still, it's a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles, we'd've died out." He retched and ducked out of sight again.

"Same with Bending," Katara added. "Many people in the world are either Benders or non-Benders. If it weren't for non-Benders, real Benders would've vanished."

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," Hagrid said over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

Wisely, Toph said, "I wouldn't know about that. I think trouble doesn't come much worse than having slugs pouring out of your mouth."

But thanks to eating some more of the fudge, she couldn't say anything else. That made Hagrid say, "Harry. Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

The others gasp, and Harry snapped, "I have NOT been giving out signed photos! If Lockhart's still spreading that around..."

"I'm on'y jokin'," Hagrid said with a laugh, making the others laugh too. I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," Sokka spoke up.

Hagrid replied, "Don' think he did. An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he added as Ron finished throwing up for now.

"No thanks...better not risk it."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," Hagrid said as they finished the last of their tea.

So they walked out back with him. In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house, Toph felt something rather heavy...or several large heavy things. They were around the size of a large boulder, which led her to believe they were heavy.

Hagrid said, "They're pumpkins. Gettin' on well, aren't they? Fer the Halloween feast...should be big enough by then."

"What've you been feeding them?" Harry asked.

"Well, I've bin givin' them...you know...a bit o' help..."

_Why help? _Toph wondered. To Harry, she whispered, "Why'd he have to get help?"

Harry whispered back, "Hagrid's not supposed to use magic; he was expelled from Hogwarts in this third year...and I don't know why he was expelled."

Toph looked over in Hagrid's direction and frowned. It was a shame to hear that Hagrid had been expelled and couldn't use lots of magic anymore. But still, he appeared to love his job as the gamekeeper of Hogwarts.

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" Hermione asked, half disapproving and half amused. "Well, you've done a good job on them."

"That's what yer little sister said, Ron. Met her jus' yesterday. Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." Then Hagrid added playfully, "If yeh ask me, she wouldn' say no ter a signed-"

"Oh, shut up," Harry muttered.

This made Toph, Sokka, and Aang laugh a bit, but Katara and Kori didn't...though Toph knew they were amused too. Ron snorted with laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs, making Hagrid pull him away from the pumpkins and say warningly "Watch it!"

It was nearly lunchtime, and Toph actually felt full from the fudge; she didn't want to gain weight from it, so she vowed to practice her EarthBending soon. The Golden Trio and Team Avatar said good-bye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing occasionally but only bringing up two very small slugs.

**...**

Team Avatar made it into the Great Hall and sat down together at their usual spots as they started their lunch. But Toph could tell that they were subdued after what had happened that morning. Malfoy sure had a lot of nerve calling her friends "Mudbloods", which was proof that he was still clinging onto racism. It reminded her of the four nations; despite people from the other nations joining together in Yu Dao (which would become Republic City), some still clung to their ways of racism and even supported the former Fire Lord, Ozai.

Just as they reached their spots, Harry and Ron slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom. Hermione was behind them, saying "Well, you did break school rules" along the way, making Toph not enjoy her shepherd's pie as much as she thought. She wondered what got them worried when they spoke.

"Filch'll have me there all night," Ron was griping heavily. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."

"I'd swap anytime," Harry told him hollowly. "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering Lockhart's fan mail...he'll be a nightmare..."

Aang looked up from the boiled potatoes on his plate. "You two got your detentions?"

Harry and Ron nodded, the latter saying, "I have to polish the silver in the trophy room with Filch. And NO magic...elbow grease."

Harry said, "And I have to help Lockhart answer his fan mail. He'll be a nightmare, and he even asked for me to join him!"

"I'd say Harry got the easy part," Sokka said. "At least answering letters is better than scrubbing all that silver."

"Try answering letters with a narcissist who couldn't get rid of pixies," Katara retorted. "If you ask me, I'd say Ron got the better deal. But good luck tonight," she told the boys.

**...**

Wearily, Aang sat outside the Fat Lady's portrait, waiting for Harry to come back from his detention with Gilderoy Lockhart; Ron already came back from his detention with Filch. From what he had heard the others complaining about their new teacher, he decided that they didn't like him. And...he didn't either. Lockhart was always trying to make people see him as famous and thrusting Harry into the spotlight when he didn't want to.

But even more pressing than that was what Malfoy had called Katara and Hermione earlier. Aang heard that it was a really nasty name to call witches or wizards who had normal parents, but he wondered what they could call Benders who parents didn't have Bending. This, however, made him even more worried for Katara and Sokka. Their parents, Chief Hakoda and Kya, didn't have any kind of Bending on them...and neither did Sokka, as a matter of fact. Aang worried about the day when he could not protect Katara from Malfoy.

Just before he could fall asleep, a hand on his shoulder made his eyes snap open as he looked up quickly. Harry was looking down at him with an urgent face as if he wanted to tell him something very important.

"What's up?" Aang asked with concern. "And why do you look like something attacked Hedwig? She didn't get attacked, did she?" he added as a small joke, but his inside self hoped this amazing animal wasn't hurt.

"No," Harry said. "Come with me into the boys dorm in a few minutes. Wattlebird!" he told the Fat Lady.

So the Fat Lady swung forth on her hinges, and the two Gryffindors climbed inside. Two of the girls of their combined team were busy around the table near the fire; Hermione was working on some homework while Katara was writing something down, something like a letter that laid just before a glass of water. One of the Weasley twins had passed by, said something to her (which she replied with a nod), and went up to the dorms.

Just then...

"Don't drink that!" Hermione abruptly shouted.

Aang looked around and saw Katara give Hermione a confused look as she set the glass down. He wondered what would make the brains of the Golden Trio tick like that.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Katara asked, perplexed.

Hermione stayed silent for a few more moments before saying, "I think the twins spiked your drink with a potion!"

"How do you know that?" Aang asked in a curious voice. "It looks like water to me."

"But still! Potions could have a certain side effect if they're consumed!" Hermione snapped back at him. Then she turned around and went on, "Now I'm telling you again: don't drink-"

She was too late. Katara had picked up the glass again and finished the rest of her drink. Aang didn't know what Hermione was worried about, but he realized one thing: she worried too much. Still...if Katara would be affected by the drink, then he would ask the Weasley twins what they had done to his girlfriend.

The WaterBender stood up and said politely, "Thanks for the concern, Hermione, but I feel fine. Please stop worrying...and good-night." At this, she pushed her chair back under the small table and walked off towards the girls' dorm, Gin following her.

Hermione stared after her, her mouth briefly agape, before turning to Aang. "Aren't you concerned on what your girlfriend drank? Are you?"

"A little bit...but I know her," Aang reasoned, though he was a bit annoyed at the guilt tripping. "She's a strong and independent young woman. But why'd you freak out?"

"I am absolutely sure that Fred and George spiked her drink with a potion," Hermione explained in a slightly furious tone. "But what potion...I couldn't tell. I'm going to the library tomorrow and find a spell that could keep others away from your beverage!"

Aang chuckled at that. "Be careful that the library doesn't fail you."

The bushy-haired girl just sighed and walked away towards the girls' dorms.

_She'll be fine, _Aang reassured himself. _She's been capable of taking care of herself when she needed to. What can possibly go wrong?_

But little did he know that something WAS going to go wrong.

_**To be continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: There we go, folks, and I hope you like this chapter! If not, let me know, and I'll fix it. Sorry it took so long to upload this chapter; I had a bit of trouble with Microsoft Word this morning. But still, what did the Weasley Twins do? You'll find out soon enough, but first, I'd like to share some news with you.**

**On Friday night, my friend and I went to WWE Live, and it was awesome! Plus, it was the first live wrestling event we've ever been to. My grandpa had seen real life wrestling matches, and so did my parents. Anyways, we saw John Cena, Ryback, Team Hell No, the Shield, Tons Of Funk, Zack Ryder, R Truth, and the new wrestlers...the Wyatt Family. I didn't care if I didn't get an autograph; just seeing them made me happy. But first, let's go to the review thing and go for the preview for A Giant Adventure.**

**Read and review! Those who do will get a virtual pizza and/or snack of their choice along with a drink. And remember, flames aren't allowed, but I welcome advice, questions, and constructive criticism as long as it's not harsh.**

**Preview: Things start out as usual in Hogwarts...but Aang sees something different about Katara, something he hasn't seen in a while. But it gets stranger when she gets affected a lot more by the spell, and it gives her a massive problem (Get it?). Can Aang and the others help her get back to normal...and who can help her?**

**See ya next time!**


	9. A Giant Problem (part 1)

**AvatarCat13: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to the newest chapter for Avatar Aang And The Chamber Of Secrets! And I hope you all like this as much as the first one. But before we go any further, I'd like to say a little something first.**

**To tell you guys the truth, Team Avatar's gonna have a misadventure or two before they get down to the main stuff. Don't worry; the main stuff will be coming along, but every story or show's gotta have their own misadventures every now and again. Plus, I've been wondering what it'd be like to have a female character from the series become a giantess.**

**Disclaimer: Both of these series don't belong to me; they both belong to Mike DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and J.K. Rowling.**

**Summary: Things start out as usual in Hogwarts...but Aang sees something different about Katara, something he hasn't seen in a while. But it gets stranger when she gets affected a lot more by the spell, and it gives her a massive problem (Get it?). Can Aang and the others help her get back to normal...and who can help her?**

**Uploading Date: June 29, 2013 (Six years since my ex-girlfriend and I broke up)**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

_**A Giant Problem (part 1)  
**_

Feeling her head ache a bit hard from last night's dream, Katara woke up in the Gryffindor girls' dorm, Gin curled up in a ball at her feet. She lifted herself off the bed slowly and looked around at her dog still sleeping before gathering up her clothes for the day and walking halfway down the hall and into the girls' bathroom. Today was another day at Hogwarts, but now she couldn't rest well at the term Malfoy called Hermione yesterday.

_Mudblood. _The name sure sounded dirty enough to forever stain one's tongue, and Katara got even more worried. Since she was a WaterBender born to non-Benders, wouldn't that make her one too? She wondered how people who thought like Malfoy did were ever allowed in Hogwarts, but she knew she was not in charge for who came into the castle or not. Pushing that into her mind, she took her clothes off and bent down to the lowest cupboard to pick out some shampoo for the shower.

"Ow!" she suddenly hissed, bumping her head against the bathroom cabinet door and pulling back. She was surprised as she rubbed her head to get the pain away, for she had not stood up to pull away. Thinking that it was just her imagination, she turned the warm water on and stepped into the shower.

Minutes later, she was done with her shower, having cleaned herself with very sweet-smelling soap and shampoo. She got out and dried her naked body with WaterBending, putting on her clothes and her mother's necklace as she heard pawing at the door. Katara opened the door to see Gin standing before her, wagging his tail and holding a blue ball in his jaws.

"Morning, Gin," she said, scratching her dog gently behind the ears. "Wanna go downstairs for some breakfast?"

Gin barked, dropping the ball. So Katara walked down the spiraling stairs, her dog by her side, until they got into the common room, where the others were making plans for the day. It was a weekend, so they had two days to either study or relax.

"Good morning, Katara," Aang greeted her, walking over and pecking her cheek.

Katara kissed his cheek in return and replied, "Good morning to you too." Noticing the amazed looks the others were looking at her (except for Toph, of course), she asked, "What? Why're you all staring at me?"

No one spoke. Then Sokka said, "Um...for a second there, you look kinda around Aang's height right now. But...I either must've been seeing things...or the world is shrinking," he added in a low and dramatic voice.

"Your brain might," Toph remarked with a roll of the eyes.

But as the others laughed at the blind EarthBender's joke, Katara looked back at Aang and let out a small gasp. Sokka was right; as of right now, she was now directly looking into her boyfriend's eyes at his height instead of looking up at him. Then again...maybe her brother was right; maybe this world WAS shrinking for some reason. It might have been one of his silly ideas, but she would rather take that than whatever else she must be feeling.

So they went out of the common room, but Katara couldn't help but notice Hermione giving her worried looks. She wished the bushy-haired girl wouldn't be worried, for she could handle herself well in a bad situation, as Aang had said before he went to bed that night. But maybe there was something she wasn't telling her...yet Katara pushed that away, not wanting to be bothered by anything bad.

_Today's another day, _she reasoned with herself. _We just gotta make the most of it._

**...**

They had arrived at breakfast, Aang and Katara joining the other Gryffindors while Sokka and Toph joined their Housemates too. So far, nothing bad had happened except for Malfoy, who was gloating at his table and holding court there, probably telling them of how he used the dirty word "Mudblood" against Hermione. Katara tried to ignore him, but she hoped McGonagall or Snape would be told of this and give him a detention or something.

It was when she handed Gin a slice of bacon that she saw something odd. Her hand, which would usually barely cover the dog's entire head, now covered his head as well as the ears. Katara just watched Gin gulp down the bacon before looking around at Harry until someone tapped her shoulder. It was Aang.

"Um...Katara?" The Avatar was looking at her with worry now. "I don't think we're shrinking. I think you're...growing."

"What?" Katara asked, raising a brow slightly at him. "I don't want to sound stubborn, but I'm fine! So what're you talking abou...oh."

Now she saw what had happened to her. Instead of reaching up to Aang's chin at her normal height...she was now taller than him. Katara recalled that she was only a bit taller than Aang when they first met, but it was because he wasn't growing much until later. Despite all this, though, she knew that she could only reach Sokka's height; that way, she could convince herself that she was okay.

But even when she thought of it, Katara felt herself go a bit higher until she was looking down at her big-eyed boyfriend and Harry. Now she realized the truth: Aang was right about something being wrong with her.

_I AM growing!_

She looked down at her body to see how much she had grown so far. And so far, she was now taller than Sokka, yet her clothes seemed to grow along with her. And her hand seemed almost as big as her plate...but this was becoming too much for her to handle. Letting out a small excuse to the Gryffindors, Katara got up from her seat and headed out of the Great Hall.

"Katara?" Harry and Aang had gone after her, the former speaking. "What was that all about? And you look a bit taller than usual."

"I know," Katara sighed, looking down at the two boys. "And I don't know what's happened to me during the night. Did anyone notice me?" When they shook their heads, she sighed and said, "Good. Now how do we get through this?"

Aang looked up into her blue eyes. "How about we go down to Hagrid's hut? He might know what to do."

Harry tilted his head to one side. "What about Madam Pomfrey? She can help."

"I know," the AirBender replied. "But Hagrid's place might be closer, and if Katara grows a lot bigger, then she could wait in the Forbidden Forest until she gets back to her normal size."

Katara nodded quickly. "That sounds good. But we should hurry before I get bigger."

"Well, we better get this through and done," Harry said, turning to the Great Hall. "Aang, you get Katara out of the castle as quick as you can. I'm going back to the Great Hall to get the others to help out."

Aang nodded. "Good. And hurry."

But as soon as the words left Aang's mouth, Katara felt that tingling in her body again, and she knew why. As she stood behind Aang, she felt herself growing a bit over her boyfriend until she was at least much taller than Sokka. This was making her uneasy now, and this day was getting a lot stranger by the minute. Katara saw Aang turn around and yelp at seeing how much taller she was growing.

"We should get going," she told her boyfriend. "At any rate, I'll be bigger than Appa!"

So she stooped down and gently scooped him up into her arms, and she felt like she was holding Momo in her arms now. Turning around, she quickly headed over to the big oak doors at the main entrance to Hogwarts, pushing them open and stopping at the bridge that connected the castle and the grounds together. She set Aang down, took a deep breath, and laid down on her stomach, preparing to crawl through the now tight space. Beside her, Aang had already taken out his glider and was sailing beside the bridge, which surprisingly held up Katara's heavier weight due to growing taller.

Once they were on the other side, they dashed over to Hagrid's hut, the earth slightly rumbling with each step Katara made. Aang went inside first due to his girlfriend being too big to fit through the front door. So she sat down beside the house and looked down at Hagrid's dog, Fang, who was sitting on the porch and looking up at her. He gave a terrified yelp and ran back into the hut, making her feel ashamed of scaring the dog.

Just then, she felt herself growing a bit more until she passed the chimney of the cabin. Katara merely sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees as she thought, _Why am I growing? I need to stop growing like this and be small again!_

"No need to worry, young ones! I got this!"

She looked down towards the ground...and let out a groan. Lockhart had arrived with that usual stupid grin on his face, and Katara let out a small groan as she slapped a hand to her face, the slapping sound now as loud as a gust of wind. The last time they dealt with this buffoon, he had left them in the class with little blue imps that caused too much chaos. Whatever scheme he was going to do to try and "shrink" her, it would go wrong.

_Why did Dumbledore have to hire this idiot?_

"You sure you got this?" Sokka was shouting. He, Toph, and the Golden Trio were behind them, panting for breath. "I mean, you couldn't handle a lot of imps by yourself. Look at what already happened days ago!"

Lockhart gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Those particular imps were rather disruptive that day, young sir! But don't worry! I've had a similar case like this when I visited Bulgaria and even Spain!" To Katara, he flicked his wand up at her and asked, "Young lady, you appear to be around...twenty-five feet tall now, correct?"

"Yes," Katara replied, confused as she stooped down to speak with him.

"I know just the spell for that!" Lockhart did a lot of embellished twirls of his wand and pointed it up at her, shouting... _"Engorgio!"_

"NO!" Hermione yelled.

"Hermione? What's-" Aang and Hagrid had come out of the hut and seen Lockhart pointing his wand up at Katara. Clearly remembering what happened in the Defense Against The Dark Arts class, Aang ran over towards the teacher and shouted, "Wait, NO!"

But it was too late. Katara was already hit with the spell, yet she had no idea what was happening what would happen next. And then...she let out a gasp as she started growing even bigger...and even faster than before. Now instead of growing a bit every few minutes, she was growing a lot more every second until she was hitting lots of birch tree branches all the way up. Finally, she stopped growing and hitting a rather medium-sized pine tree rather hard, causing it to break off and fall to the ground.

As she looked down, her friends and Lockhart were just around the size of lizard mice now, small scurrying lizard mice...though they didn't scurry. She had felt a slight rip and saw that her Water Tribe robes were a little bit tighter than before; perhaps when she put them on after her shower, they had been a bit tighter.

"What...what in the spirits' name did you do to me?!" Katara shrieked, but her voice was so loud that it caused birds to fly away. "I'm even bigger than before!"

Aang whirled around at Lockhart, asking in disbelief, "Is this what you call fixing problems?! How can you be so...not _smart_, Professor?!"

Lockhart cleared his throat nervously and tried stepping away before he stammered, "Well...that _can _happen sometimes with that spell. But look on the bright side: you're fifty feet tall now! Just a little defect, though."

"Defect?! Fifty feet tall?!" Sokka roared, getting into his face with his furious face. "You call this a defect?! My sister's a fifty-foot-tall giantess now, and it's thanks to you being so stupid! And yet..." While Lockhart fled back to the castle, the Water Tribe warrior looked away to the side, thinking of something.

Hermione gave a sniff. "I told you that something was wrong with Katara yesterday night. So when was I ever wrong?"

Then...Sokka gave her a rather blasé glare. "Wow. When you just said that, it, uh...it kinda took away all that pluck. That kinda...spoiled the victory there."

"Yeah," Ron added. "I bet Lockhart can't even tell a kneazle from a cat."

Tired of the arguing, Katara called down to them, "Hello! Giant WaterBender up here!"

"Sorry about that!" Aang shouted up to her. "But...how can we fix this mess now?! Lockhart just made everything worse!"

"Well...at least he tried to help!" Hermione argued back.

"Tried to help?" Hagrid barked in disbelief. "I ain't no expert o' magic, but that didn't look like he were helpin'! I've seen loads of giants 'n' giantess before, but...ne'er like this!"

Just then, Toph yelled, "Will everyone quit BELLYACHING already?!" When they did, the blind master MetalBender pointed up at Katara and went on more calmly, "Panicking isn't gonna help. Sugar Queen's gotten a lot bigger than a few sky bison now thanks to Dumb Mage, and we gotta try to find a solution to get her to her normal size again. So...what are we gonna do?"

They all stared at her in amazement as Sokka said, "Wow, Toph. When'd you get so calm?"

"When you hang around Iroh a lot, he starts rubbing off on you," Toph replied with a shrug. "But I think it's kinda nice."

"Anyways..." Katara shifted herself until she was lying on her stomach and looking down clearly at the others. She apologized quickly for the loud thud this caused and went on, "...does anyone know of a cure to help me?"

Harry spoke up, "We can ask the centaurs. They might know of a cure."

Hagrid's bushy eyebrows were raised. "Them centaurs? Well...wha' the heck? I guess we can go inter the forest and ask 'em. But be careful yeh don' knock them trees down," he added, looking up at Katara as he said this.

The WaterBender shrugged. "I'll try not to."

So she watched as her friends headed off towards the castle to get prepared while she backed into the forest, her footsteps now echoing.

_**To Be Continued...**_

**...**

**AvatarCat13: So there we go, folks! That's the end of this chapter. This part will be a two-part chapter since this is only the beginning of this little caper. And sorry I made Hermione seem a bit arrogant; I like her, but she's not my favorite Harry Potter character of all time. Besides, she still has that fascination of Lockhart (*cough*crush*cough). And I made Lockhart mess this up because he's as clueless as a goldfish.  
**

**Believe it or not, there is a FanFic of mine that's sorta like this chapter here. It's called WaterBender's Giant Adventure, where Katara gets a growth potion, and it causes her to grow taller anytime she's near any liquids (minus saliva). And it's (accidentally) like the episode of Kung Fu Panda: Legends Of Awesomeness called Huge, where Mantis sorta does the same thing. But here's the review and the preview for A Giant Problem Part 2!**

**Read and review, folks! Those who do will get a virtual plush doll of a Dachshund since my sister plans on getting rid of her dogs...but maybe once her anger goes down, she'll change her mind. I do not allow any flames, but advice, questions of any kind, and constructive criticism (as long as it's not harsh) are welcome anytime.**

**Preview: The mission to reverse the growth spell has begun. Team Avatar and the Golden Trio search for a cure in the woods, gathering ingredients and trying to avoid a pack of wild dogs in the forest. Meanwhile, Katara and Hagrid come across the centaur herd, who are furious to see a giant human amongst them. When one centaur stands up for the visitors, what will happen next? And will Katara be cured in no time?**

**See ya next time!**


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